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OUTLINE  MISSIONARY  SERIES. 


CHINA: 


OUTLINE  MISSIONARY  SERIES. 


* CHINA  ^ 


BY 

REV.  J.  T.  GRACEY,  D.  D. 


Member  of  the  American  Oriental  Society:  Member  of  the  International 
Congress  of  Orientalists:  Hon.  Me.mber  of  the  American 
Society  of  Co.mpar.ative  Religions. 


SEVENTH  AMERICAN  EDITION,  REVISED. 


ROCHESTER,  N.  1'..- 
J.  T.  GRACEY,  PcBLiSHER. 
1895. 


Behold  these  shall  come  from  far  : 

.■4  nd  lo  / these  from  the  north  and  fro7n  the  west  ; 

And  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim. 

Isaiah  xlix,  12. 

“O  rock!  rock!  when  wilt  thou  open?” 

Xavier. 

“ It  is  a great  step  towards  the  Christianization  of  our  planet 
if  Christianity  gain  entratice  into  China." 

Xeajlder  in  ISoO,  eight  days  before  his  death. 


OsmocraT'Chronicle  Press  Rochester,  N.  Y* 


CHINA 


®HINA  : “ The  Middle  Kingdom,”  “ The  Flowery 

Land,”  “ Far  Cathay,”  the  “ Land  of  Sinim,”  studied 
in  any  aspect  is  full  of  interest. 

I.— IT  IS  A VAST  COUNTRY. 

For  more  than  3000  miles  its  shores  are  washed  bj'  the 
ceaseless  surges  of  the  sea.  It  encloses  a desert,  vast  as 
any  over  which  sterility  ever  reigned ; it  embraces  plains 
as  exuberant  as  were  ever  pressed  by  foot  of  man.  The 
area  of  its  largest  plain  is  greater  by  one-half  than  all  the 
German  Empire. 

Great  rivers  drain  and  irrigate  the  land.  The  Hoang-Ho 
is  almost  three  times  the  length  of  the  Ohio,  while  the 
Vang-tse  is  longer  than  the  Mississippi,  and  drains  a basin 
more  extensive  than  the  whole  territory  of  the  Republic 
of  Mexico.  One-tenth  of  the  population  derive  their  food 
from  the  waters  of  the  country.  According  to  the  official 
catalogue  of  the  world’s  exhibition  in  1851,  the  extent  of 
its  coal-fields  was  more  than  twenty  times  greater  than 
those  of  all  Europe,  being  419,000  square  miles,  and  side 
by  side  with  the  coal  is  iron  ore.  It  has  all  degrees  ot 
altitude  from  the  sea  level  to  the  perpetual  snow  line. 
Between  Canton  and  Peking,  the  great  road  winds  through 
a pass  8000  feet  above  the  ocean.  It  has  all  varieties  of 
climate.  One  may  be  ice-bound  at  Peking,  while  the 


CHINA. 


thermometer  seldom  falls  below  50°  at  Canton,  and  its 
inhabitants  could  subsist  in  comfort  and  luxury  till  the  end 
of  time.  Make  it  a botanical  garden  and  nothing  grows 
that  would  not  probably  flourish  in  some  part  of  the 
Empire.  Try  it  as  a zoological  museum,  and  any  animal 
on  the  globe  m.ight  find  congenial  surroundings  in  some 
one  of  its  valleys,  hills  or  streams.  It  is  not  easy  to  make 
real  to  ourselves  an  Empire  which  comprises  one-third 
of  the  continent  of  Asia,  and  one-tenth  of  the  habitable 
globe  ; which  sweeps  through  seventy  degrees  of  latitude 
and  forty  of  longitude,  whose  circuit  is  half  the  circum- 
ference of  the  globe. 

Professor  Douglas  thus  describes  it  • 

“From  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  the  land 
blossoms  as  the  rose,  and  yields  to  the  diligent  and  careful 
tillage  of  the  natives  enough  and  to  spare  of  all  that  is 
necessary  for  the  comfort  and  well-being  of  man.  Xor 
have  these  advantages  become  the  recent  possessions  of 
the  people.  For  many  centuries  they  have  been  in  full 
enjoyment  of  them,  and  on  every  side  the  evidences  of 
long-established  wealth  and  commercial  enterprise  are 
observable. 

“From  the  great  wall  to  the  frontier  of  Tong-king,  and 
from  Thibet  to  the  China  Sea  the  country  is  dotted  over 
with  rich  and  populous  cities,  which  are  connected  one 
with  another  by  well-trodden  roads  or  water  highways.  In 
these  busy  centres  of  industry  merchants  from  all  parts  of 
the  empire  are  to  be  found,  who  are  as  ready  to  deal  in  the 
fabrics  of  the  native  looms,  porcelain,  tea  and  other  native 
products,  as  in  cottons,  metals  and  woolens  of  Europe. 

“The  rivers  and  canals  are  crowded,  the  vessels  bearing 
silks  and  satins  from  Cheh-kiang  and  Kiang-su,  tea  from 
Gan-hwuy  and  Ho-nan,  and  rice  from  the  southern 
provinces  to  parts  of  the  empire  which  give  in  exchange 
for  such  gifts  the  corn  and  other  products  which  they  are 
able  to  spare.” 


tiXTENT  COMPARED  WITH  OTHER  COUNTRIES 

Extent  Compared  with  Other  Countries. — Various  are 
the  expedients  to  which  men  have  resorted  to  ‘"take  the 
great  idea  in.”  Comparisons  in  geography  are  now  popu- 
lar. The  school  atlases  of  to-day  have  what  are  called 
“Inlets.”  These  are  smaller  maps  in  the  corner  of  the 
greater  ones  giving  an  outline  of  a familiar  portion  of 
country,  on  the  scale  '^f  the  larger  chart,  showing  how 
many  times  the  one  might  be  embraced  in  the  other.  A 
map  of  Rhode  Island  on  the  same  page  with  one  of  Texas, 
would  show  into  how  many  such  states  Texas  might  be 
divided;  or  one  of  Illinois  on  the  chart  of  China  would  aid  the 
mind  in  measuring  the  more  remote  with  the  more  familiar. 
Try  France  thus  on  the  chart  of  China  and  you  may  sketch 
the  one  seven  times  on  the  other,  and  have  space  to  spare. 
Try  the  British  Isles  and  you  may  overlay  China  with 
eighteen  of  them.  Try  the  Chinese  Empire  by  this  com- 
parative chartology,  and  it  will  exceed  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  forty-four  times.  It  can  be  dissected  into  104 
Englands  or  176  Scotlands.  Lay  all  Europe  on  China  and 
you  will  have  thirteen  hundred  square  miles  of  the  latter 
uncovered.  It  is  one-third  larger.  Lay  China  on  the 
United  States,  and  it  will  overrun  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  four  degrees  into  the  Pacific  ocean.  Reverse  the 
experiment  and  lay  the  United  States  including  Alaska  on 
China,  and  you  may  gem  the  edges  with  a half  a dozen  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ; that  is,  you  will  have  a million 
and  a half  square  miles  to  add  for  good  measure.  Change 
it  from  its  present  shape  to  that  of  a belt  of  land  a mile 
wide,  and  there  would  be  room  for  a walking  match  from 
end  to  end,  of  thirty  miles  a day  continued  through  more 
than  four  and  a half  centuries. 


DIAGRAM  OF  COMPARATIVE  POPULATIONS. 


GREAT  BRITAIN. 


UNITED  STATES. 


GERMANY. 


FRANCE. 


RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


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THE  WHOLE  SPACE  REPRESENTS  CHINA, 


.UAP  OF  COMPARATIVE  AREAS. 


7 


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CHINA  PROPER. 


8 


CHINA. 


II.— CHINA  AS  A POPULOUS  COUNTRY. 

What  the  population  of  Chinese  Tartary  and  Thibet  is, 
it  is  difficult  to  tell,  as  no  correct  census  is  ever  taken  and 
the  tribes  are  migratory.  About  China  proper  we  are  left 
less  in  doubt.  For  the  regulation  of  the  capitation  ta.\ 
throughout  the  Empire,  and  for  determining  the  propor- 
tion of  rice  to  be  stored  in  case  of  famine,  a census  is 
taken  each  year.  Dr.  Williams  in  his  “ Middle  Kingdom” 
says  the  census  of  1812  gave  the  population  of  China 
proper  at  three  hundred  and  si.xty  millions.  That  of  1852, 
found  in  the  otffcial  residence  of  Yeh,  Governor  General  of 
Canton,  gives  the  population  as  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  millions.  The  same  rate  of  increase  would  make  the 
present  population  of  the  eighteen  provinces  four  hundred 
and  seven  millions.  In  “Middle  Kingdom,”  Vol.  i,  pp. 
206,  239,  Dr.  Williams  estimates  the  population  as  less 
than  it  was  in  1812  because  theTaiping  rebellion  probably 
destroyed  twenty  millions  of  human  beings  during 
eighteen  years  of  carnage  in  the  fifteen  provinces  to  which 
it  reached.  Dr.  Williams  thinks  few  people  competent  to 
judge,  place  much  confidence  in  the  recent  total  of  four 
hundred  and  fourteen  millions  given  by  a Russian  at  St. 
Petersburg,  at  least  no  one  has  supported  it  by  independ- 
ent examination.  He  thinks  the  total  of  three  hundred 
and  sixty-three  millions  given  in  1812  not  a startling  one 
considering  the  climate,  soil,  industry  and  economy  of  the 
land  and  people,  but  thinks  the  wars  of  late  years  must 
have  reduced  that  number,  though  he  does  not  forget  that 
they  recupetate  wonderfully,  if  asked  to  prove  it,  he 
says  in  the  “ Missionary  Herald,”  by  such  facts  as  are 
known  since  the  census  of  1812  he  would  not  now  place  the 
population  higher  than  three  hundred  and  forty  millions. 


A rurui^UUS  COUNTRY. 


9 


Mr.  J.  Hudson  Taylor  at  the  World’s  Conference  in 
London,  said,  some  think  that  possibly  the  population  does 
not  exceed  240  or  250  millions.  He  states  that  in  one 
province  seven  millions  of  people  recently  died  of  famine, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  country  the  population  is  not 
one-fifth  of  what  it  formerly  was.  Dr.  Legge,  forty  years 
a missionary  in  China  and  now  Professor  of  Chinese  in 
the  University  of  Oxford  does  not  think  that  anybody  can 
say  anything  more  definite  than  the  Chinese  Ambassador 
in  Paris,  who  recently  stated  the  population  at  four 
hundred  millions. 

Populousness  Compared  with  Other  Countries. — But 
who  shall  enable  us  to  realize  such  numbers  ? By  what 
comparisons  shall  we  try  to  comprehend  their  barest  out- 
line ? The  best  minds  of  Christendom  have  plumed  their 
imagination,  have  taxed  their  ingenuity,  have  strained 
their  rhetoric  to  bring  this  multitude  home  to  western 
Christians.  They  point  out,  that  in  two  provinces  of 
China  the  Emperor  reigns  over  as  many  people  as  the 
Queen  of  England  does  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ; 
that  there  are  more  people  in  Peking  than  in  the  whole 
island  of  Jamaica  ; that  the  Samoan  islands  though  a prom- 
ising group  of  the  South  Seas  with  a total  of  35,000 
population,  would  make  but  a speck  of  a city  in  China  ; 
that  one  could  find  a dozen  or  more  cities  with  as  numer- 
ous a population,  in  a few  days’  journey  ; that  the  four  or 
five  millions  of  people  of  Madagascar  would  only  make 
one-seventh  of  the  single  province  of  Shan-tung.  There 
are  eight  times  as  many  people  in  China  as  there  are  in 
the  United  States  ; one-third  more  than  in  all  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe  combined  ; twice  as  many  as  on  the  four 
continents,  Africa,  North  and  South  America  and  Oceanica. 


TO 


CHIXA. 


Fertile  in  expedients,  the  genius  of  the  generation 
presses  us  anew  by  bidding  us  know  that  one-third  of  the 
human  race  is  in  China ; that  every  third  person  who  lives 
and  breathes  upon  this  earth,  who  toils  under  the  sun, 
sleeps  under  God’s  stars,  or  sighs  and  suffers  beneath  the 
heaven,  is  a Chinese.  Every  third  child  born  into  the 
world  looks  into  the  face  of  a Chinese  mother  ; every  third 
pair  given  in  marriage  plight  their  troth  in  a Chinese  cup 
of  wine  ; every  third  orphan  weeping  through  the  day, 
every  third  widow  wailing  through  the  watches  of  the 
night,  is  in  China.  Ever)'  third  person  who  comes  to  die, 
or  who  sits  in  contemplation  on  his  own  dissolution,  is  a 
Chinese.  One  can  but  ask.  What  catechism  will  this  third 
child  learn?  What  prosperity  will  follow  this  bridal? 
What  solace  will  be  aft'orded  these  widows?  What  watch- 
care  will  be  given  these  orphans  ? With  what  hopes  will 
these  multitudes  depart  ? 

Depart  they  must,  and  the  ghastly  arithmetic  startles 
us,  as  we  estimate  how  rapidly  they  go.  Make  your 
parallel  lines  with  pall  and  spade  and  grave.  Thirty-three 
thousand  Chinese  die  every  day  ! We  pale  and  shudder 
at  the  dim  outline  of  the  thought.  And  yet  they  stay  not ! 
Bury  all  the  people  in  London  in  three  months,  and  the 
rest  of  mankind  would  start  aghast  at  the  grim  event. 
Yet  we  record  and  read  with  carelessness  the  statement 
that  four  times  every  year  that  number  die  in  China.  It 
is  equal  to  burying  all  the  people  of  England  in  a year 
and  a half  ; all  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  in  thirty 
months  ; all  of  New  York  city  in  less  than  a month ; 
all  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  less  than  five 
years  ! Terrific  ordeal  of  the  imagination  ! We  stagger 
at  the  arithmetic,  and  hide  our  face  from  the  pallid  ranks. 

^Ve  turn  to  the  living.  Put  them  in  rank  joining  hands 


A SURPRISIA'G  HISTORY. 


II 


- and  they  will  girdle  the  globe  ten  times  at  the  equator  with 
’iving,  beating  human  hearts.  Make  them  an  army  and  let 
them  move  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  a day,  week  after 
week  and  month  after  month,  and  they  will  not  pass  you 
in  23^4  years.  Constitute  them  pilgrims,  and  let  them 
journey  every  day  and  every  night,  under  the  sunlight  and 
under  the  solemn  stars,  and  you  must  hear  the  ceaseless 
tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  of  the  weary,  pressing,  throbbing 
throng  for  twelve  long  years  and  eight  months. 

III.— CHINA  HAS  A SURPRISING  HISTORY. 

The  history  of  Rome  is  compassed  by  about  a 
thousand  years.  That  of  Greece  varies  but  little  from 
that  of  Rome.  The  history  of  the  Jews  from  Abraham 
to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  is  double  that  of  Rome. 
But  China  has  had  a settled  form  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment for  forty  centuries.  Ancient  Turanian  and  Aztec 
nations,  Greece,  Rome,  Persia,  Assyria  and  Babylon  have 
risen,  culminated  and  declined,  while  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment has  survived  through  thirty  changes  of  dynasty. 
Its  laws  codified  2,000  years  ago  are  revised  every  five 
years.  China  was  consolidated  as  a government  B.  C. 
1088  and  substituted  her  present  form  of  government  for 
the  feudal  two  hundred  and  twenty  years  before  Christ, 
thus  emancipating  her  people  from  the  feudal  system 
before  the  Christian  era.  In  theory  her  government  is 
despotic,  but  practically  it  is  democratic,  the  equality  of 
all  men  before  the  law  being  its  fixed  principle.  The 
half-dozen  nomadic  tribes  from  the  region  of  the  Caspian 
sea,  who  settled  in  the  basins  drained  by  the  Yellow  and 
Yang-tse  rivers,  are  to-day  the  greatest  multitude  of 
people  gathered  under  one  government  to  be  found  on  the 
face  of  the  globe,  and  Peking  is  the  oldest  existing  capital 
of  any  country. 


12 


CHINA. 


Compared  with  Classic  and  Sacred  History.  — What 
comparisons  will  aid  us  to  a comprehension  of  this 
continuity  of  history  ? A thousand  years  before  Romulus 
dreamed  of  building  the  Seven-Hilled  City  the  Chinese 
were  a peaceful  and  prosperous  people.  While  Solomon 
in  all  his  glory  was  receiving  the  Queen  of  Sheba  in 
Jerusalem,  when  the  arches  of  Babylon  first  spanned  the 
Euphrates,  when  the  towers  of  Nineveh  first  cast  their 
shadows  into  the  Tigris,  when  Jonah  threatened  Nineveh 
with  destruction,  when  Isaiah  foretold  the  downfall  of 
of  Babylon,  when  Daniel  prayed  and  prophesied, — 
through  all  these  years  the  Chinese  were  engaged  in  agri- 
culture, commerce  and  literature.  China  was  seven  hundred 
years  old  when  the  Israelites  crossed  the  Red  Sea.  She 
had  existed  fifteen  centuries  when  Isaiah  prophesied  of  her 
future  conversion. — Isaiah  xlix,  12. 

IV.— CHINA  HASAN  INGENIOUS,  INTELLIGENT  AND 
INDUSTRIOUS  PEOPLE. 

Her  records  reach  backward  through  four  thousand 
years.  She  had,  1,700  years  ago,  a lexicon  of  the  language 
which  is  still  reckoned  among  her  standards.  The  earliest 
missionaries  found  the  Chinese  with  a knowlege  of  the 
magnet. 

Antiquity  of  Chinese  Civilization. — Let  us  once  more 
more  attempt  historic  parallels.  It  is  said  that  two  cen- 
turies before  Abraham  left  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  Chinese 
istronomers  had  recorded  observations  which  have  been 
verified  by  modern  scientists.  A half  century  earlier  than 
that,  the  rocks  of  Hung  Shan  were  graven  to  memoralize 
engineering  works  of  her  people,  thought  not  to  have  been 
less  extensive  nor  less  difficult  than  those  of  Egypt. 
When  Moses  led  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  CIVILIZATION. 


13 


Chinese  laws  and  literature  rivalled,  and  Chinese  religious 
knowledge  excelled  that  of  Egypt.  A hundred  years 
before  the  north  wind  rippled  over  the  harp  of  the  son  of 
Jesse,  Wung  Wang,  an  Emperor  of  China,  composed 
classics  which  are  committed  to  memory  at  this  day  by 
every  advanced  scholar  of  the  empire.  While  Homer 
was  composing  and  singing  the  Iliad  China’s  blind  min- 
strels were  celebrating  her  ancient  heroes,  whose  tombs 
had  already  been  with  them  through  nearly  thirteen  cen- 
turies. Her  literature  was  fully  developed  before  England 
was  invaded  by  the  Norman  conquerors.  The  Chinese 
invented  firearms  as  early  as  the  reign  of  England’s  First 
Edward,  and  the  art  of  printing  five  hundred  years  before 
Caxton  was  born  They  made  paper  A.  D.  150,  and  gun- 
powder about  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era. 

A thousand  years  ago  the  forefathers  of  the  present 
Chinese  sold  silks  to  the  Romans,  and  dressed  in  these 
fabrics  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  Isles  wore 
coats  of  blue  paint  and  fished  in  willow  canoes.  Before 
America  v/as  discovered,  China  had  a canal  twelve  hun- 
dred miles  long.  Her  great  wall  was  built  two  hundred 
and  twenty  years  before  Christ  was  born  in  Bethlehem. 
It  varies  from  fifteen  to  thirty  feet  in  height  and  breadth 
and  passes  over  mountains  and  through  valleys  in  an 
unbroken  line  for  1,500  miles.  Six  horsemen  could  ride 
abreast  upon  it.  It  contains  material  enough  to  build  a 
wall  five  or  six  feet  high  around  the  globe.  It  is  said  to 
be  the  only  artificial  structure  that  would  attract  attention 
in  a hasty  survey  of  the  globe. 

Its  Survival  to  Present  Times. — Nor  is  all  this  con- 
fined to  the  past.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Stevenson  aptly  remarked 
that  “the  Egypt  of  the  Pharaohs  has  no  living  links  with 
the  Egypt  of  the  Khedite.’’  But  the  civilization  of  China 


u 


cmxA. 


to  day  is  connected  intimately  by  an  unbroken  line  with 
the  civilization  of  centuries  of  the  past.  She  has  at  pres- 
ent 1,700  walled  cities,  the  walls  of  which,  in  a straight 
line,  would  extend  6,000  miles.  Include  the  great  wall 
and  they  would  reach  twice  from  New  York  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, from  the  gulf  to  the  lakes,  and  leave  enough  to 
enclose  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis. 
The  longest  of  her  canals  is  twice  the  length  of  the  Erie. 
Her  two  thousand  canals  irrigate  all  parts  of  the  empire, 
and  are  so  connected  with  various  rivers  as  to  make  a 
water  communication  from  Peking  to  Canton,  and  goods 
and  passengers  can  go  from  the  capital  to  nearly  every 
large  town  in  the  great  river  basins.  She  collects  no  tolls 
to  keep  these  canals  in  repair.  She  bastinadoes  a bridge 
builder  whose  work  proves  imperfect.  Her  public  works 
are  perhaps  unequalled  in  any  land,  and  by  any  people  for 
the  amount  of  human  labor  bestowed  upon  them. 

Education  and  Literature. — Of  the  millions  that  com- 
pose the  empire,  a vast  proportion  are  able  to  read  and 
write.  There  is  a universal  system  of  self-supporting  day 
schools.  Every  parent  who  has  a few  pence  to  spare  in 
the  month  will  try  to  educate  his  child.  Only  literary 
graduates  are  admitted  to  public  office,  and  ten  thousand 
triannually  enter  the  competitive  examinations  at  Peking. 
Some  who  fail  to  pass  these,  continue  to  try  until  they  are 
old  men.  They  have  a list  of  all  graduates  during  the 
past  five  centuries.  Education  is  spurred  on  by  inculca- 
tion of  precepts  of  sages  and  by  emoluments  of  office,  open 
to  every  child  in  the  empire  who  wins  literary  distinction. 
The  literature  of  China  is  overwhelming  in  extent,  and  the 
literati  have  such  a superstitious  reverence  for  all  papers 
containing  letters,  as  to  place  receptacles  on  the  streets 
for  their  preservation,  and  to  employ  men  to  collect  them 


MODERN  PROGRESS  AND  ENTERPRISE. 


15 


that  they  may  not  be  trodden  upon  and  defiled.  The 
knowledge  of  the  classics  is  so  diffused  that  it  is  said  were 
they  all  destroyed  there  are  a million  men  in  China  who 
could  reproduce  them  from  memory.  In  the  matter  of 
language  Dr.  Douglass  says  : “ By  means  of  their  three 
classes  of  characters,  the  hieroglyphics,  ideograms  and 
phonetics,  the  Chinese  have  been  able  to  express  and  pre- 
serve the  thoughts  and  sayings  of  their  greatest  and  wisest 
writers  through  a series  of  centuries  which  dwarfs  into 
insignificance  all  Western  ideas  of  antiquity.  For  thirty 
centuries  Chinamen  have  been  accumulating  stores  of 
literary  wealth,  which  are  of  themselves  sufficiently  impor- 
tant to  attract  the  attention  of  scholars  and  to  stir  the 
literary  ambition  of  students,  and  which  do  so  in  almost 
every  country.  But  by  the  fresh  discoveries  of  Messrs. 
De  Lacouperie  and  Ball,  not  only  is  a new  interest  added 
to  the  language  but  it  is  brought  into  close  and  intimate 
relation  with  the  tongues  spoken  by  the  great  civilizing 
nations  of  the  world.” 

Modern  Progress  and  Enterprise. — The  Chinese  have 
an  antipathy  to  foreigners  and  often  give  credence  to 
absurd  stories  about  them,  such  as  that  they  have  “ no 
joints  to  their  knees,”  and  that  their  sailors  have  “ webbed 
feet  ; ” that  foreigners  see  a hundred  yards  into  the  earth, 
and  missionaries  extract  the  eyeballs  of  murdered  Chinese 
children  for  the  purpose  of  making  charms. 

In  the  face  of  all  this,  they  are  learning  of  the  foreigner 
and  accepting  many  of  his  improvements.  Dock-yards 
and  arsenals  have  been  established,  gunboats  and  cor- 
vettes built  and  equipped  at  the  Foo  Chow  dockyard  and 
superintended  by  French  inspectors  ; a post  chaplain  of 
the  British  navy  taught  the  future  officers  of  a Chinese 
fleet,  and  a frigate  has  been  built  and  launched  at  the 


I' 


CHIXA. 


arsenal  at  Shanghai.  Retiring  officers  of  the  British  army 
command  the  Camp  of  Instruction  at  Shanghai,  and 
Americans,  the  drilled  force  at  Ningpo.  The  Taku  forts 
are  armed  with  Krupp  guns.  An  Englishman  of  great 
ability  trained  as  a schoolmaster  by  the  Bishop  of  Victoria 
is  employed  as  a special  translator;  the  coast  pilot  ele- 
mentary books  on  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  and  Euclid  have 
long  since  been  rendered  in  China.  A small  treatise  on 
coal  mining  proved  such  a success  that  the  late  Vicerov  of 
Nanking  sat  up  all  night  to  read  it.  They  have  re-organ- 
ized their  army,  furnishing  them  with  the  Enfield,  Colt 
and  Remington  rifles.  The  cumbersome  junks  are  giving 
way  on  the  coast  and  great  rivers,  to  fine  steamships 
owned  and  run  by  the  Chinese  Merchant’s  Steamship 
Company.  By  their  enterprise  and  ability  to  form  exten- 
sive combinations  in  commercial  transactions  they  are 
proving  themselves  not  mere  imitators  but  successful  and 
original  competitors  to  Western  traders.  Chinese  banks, 
insurance  companies  and  boards  of  trade  are  to  be  found 
in  all  the  leading  ports.  Their  commercial  agencies 
ramify  through  all  the  principal  business  centers  of  West- 
ern Europe,  Siam,  and  Australia,  and  they  threaten  by 
their  emigration  to  make  the  Pacific  ocean  a Chinese  lake. 
They  have  appropriated  the  sugar  trade  of  Amoy,  the 
flour  importations  of  San  Francisco,  and  control  all  the 
rice  trade  of  their  coasts  with  foreign  countries.  In  1872 
and  again  in  1876  their  exports  doubled  their  imports. 
The  Imperial  College  of  Peking,  presided  over  by  Dr. 
Martin,  the  missionary,  is  the  West  Point  of  China,  with  a 
hundred  students  mastering  western  sciences  and  lan- 
guages. Wheaton’s  International  I.aw  translated  into 
Chinese,  was  quoted  by  the  Chinese  officials  to  the  sur- 
prise of  Western  Ambassadors.  Scientific  and  popular 


.40DERX  PROGRESS  AXD  ENTERPRISE. 


17 


magazines  circulate  among  the  literati  and  the  ruling  por- 
tion of  society,  and  we  learn  of  a native  work  on  political 
geography  giving  information  of  the  countries  of  Western 
Europe,  and  much  of  their  history  down  to  a very  recent 
date  in  France,  and  to  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to 
India. 

Rev.  Young  J.  Allen,  D.  D.,  LL  D.,  read  an  able  paper 
before  the  Shanghai  Conference  on  this  topic,  m which  he 
classified  these  changes  as  : (i)  Compulsory,  or  those 

necessitated  by  force  or  treaty  obligations.  The  compul- 
sory occupation  by  the  allies,  in  i860,  of  the  imperial 
capital  was  followed  by  a treaty  which  gave  commerce  and 
missions  the  right  of  unmolested  access  to  the  entire  land. 
(2)  The  semi-compulsory  changes,  or  those  initiated  with 
a view  to  adjustments.  The  Chinese  knew  that  the  treaty 
must  be  fulfilled,  and  that  in  reorganizing  their  govern- 
ment they  could  not  do  better  than  copy  the  strong  points 
of  their  late  adversaries  Hence,  the  innovations  of 
foreign  military  camps,  arsenals,  customs,  schools,  coast 
surveys,  etc.  (3)  Spontaneous-voluntary  changes.  Inter- 
national relations  become  cordial.  The  press  is  called 
into  acquisition,  newspapers  and  books  are  translated, 
China  has  become  conscious  of  her  wants  ; a mint,  banks* 
post-offices  follow.  (4)  Imperial  or  those  which  define  the 
position  and  policy  of  the  country. 

They  exhibit  great  tact  and  skill  in  the  use  of  modern 
appliance,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  migrate  for  business 
purposes.  They  are  seamen  on  Pacific  steamers,  brake- 
men  on  Cuba  railroads,  miners  in  Peru  ; are  in  the  shoe 
shops,  laundries,  kitchens  and  woolen  mills  of  the  United 
States  ; are  on  the  sugar  plantations  of  the  West  Indies, 
and  are  to  be  found  from  San  Diego  to  Puget  Sound.  Dr, 
R.  H.  Graves  says  : There  are  50,000  of  them  in  the 


I8 


CHIXA. 


Philippine  Islands  ; 50,000  in  the  English  colony  at  Singt 
pore,  where  they  own  four-fifths  of  all  the  real  estate 
50,000  more  in  the  Mala}'  Peninsula  ; 1,300,000  in  Siam 
thousands  in  Cochin  China,  and  thousands  more  in  Borneo 
Java  and  Sumatra.  The  colonies  founded  by  the  Spaniards 
Dutch,  French  and  English  are  being  rapidly  filled  up  b} 
Chinese.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  there  are  more  Chinese 
men  than  men  of  the  native  race. 

They  are  equal  to  every  climate,  whether  that  of  the 
iceberg  of  the  north,  or  the  malarious  tracts  of  the  tropics. 
Their  power  of  endurance  of  all  climates  is  unequalled  by 
those  of  any  other  race.  A British  writer  has  said,  “ If 
the  hard  work  of  this  world  were  to  be  farmed  out  to  the 
lowest  bidder,  with  political  protection  and  honest  pay,  it 
seems  likely  that  the  Chinese  race  would  take  the  contract.” 

V.— CHINA  HAS  COMPLICATED  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEMS. 

The  primitive  religion  of  China  was  a species  of  nature- 
worship.  Hills,  rivers  and  ancestors  received  offerings- 
“ Heaven,”  “ the  Supreme  Ruler  ” and  a fabled  “ Si.x 
honored  Ones,”  were  worshiped.  Divination  was  practiced, 
but  no  rewards  or  punishments  of  conduct  were  inculcated. 

Blending  of  the  Three  Great  Religions. — There  are 
three  prominent  religions  in  China  at  present,  Confucian- 
ism, Taoism  and  Buddhism,  but  no  person  is  e.xclusively 
of  either.  A Chinaman  is  a religious  triangle,  and  when 
he  becomes  a Christian,  Christianity  wins  a triumph  over 
three  opposing  faiths  at  once,  one  of  which  has  laid  hold 
of  the  intellect,  another  of  the  conscience,  and  the  third 
the  affections  of  the  people.  The  blending  of  these  is 
seen  in  the  fact,  that  while  Confucianism  is  theoretically 
the  only  religion  of  the  state,  Taoism  furnishes  the  gods 
of  literature  and  of  war,  as  well  as  the  patron  gods  of 


COXFUCIA  XI SM. 


19 


each  city  and  town,  while  Buddhist  priests  must  be  invited 
to  assist  in  religious  ceremonies,  and  the  whole  resolve 
themselves  into  the  worship  of  gods  and  ancestors. 
Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests  attend  the  same  weddings  and 
funerals  and  pray  side  by  side,  as  if  their  systems  of 
religion  were  identical  in  origin  and  purpose,  with  merely 
an  accidental  difference  of  name. 

I.  Confucianism. — Confucianism  stands  pre-eminent, 
however,  as  indigenous  and  the  most  ancient  of  the  exist- 
ing forms  of  faith.  Prof.  James  Legge,  Chinese  Prof,  at 
Oxford,  says  that  the  number  of  Buddhists  in  China  is 
greatly  over-estimated.  Rhys  Davids,  in  his  Buddhism, 
estimates  the  number  at  445,000,000  in  China  and  Japan, 
Says  Professor  Legge  : — “If  we  lop  off  400,000,000  from 
this  aggregate  we  shall  not  be  doing  injustice  to  Buddhism, 
Confucianism  is  pre-eminently  the  religion  of  China, 
Buddhism  has  long  been  tolerated,  and  is  widely  spread 
among  the  people  ; still,  it  is  an  itwaji — ‘a  strange  system,' 
Excepting  those  who  have  adopted  the  Buddhist  tonsure, 
the  vast  majority  of  people,  however  frequently  they  may 
be  found  in  Buddhist  or  Taoist  temples,  would  claim  to  be 
followers  of  the  great  sage.  Of  all  religious  systems, 
Confucianism,  perhaps,  has  the  greatest  following  ; then 
Christianity,  then  Hindooism,  then  Mohammedanism,  and 
we  would  place  Buddhism  in  the  fifth  place.’  Faber  says^ 
“Confucius  is  the  Chinese  of  the  Chinese,  the  greatest 
personage  of  the  largest  empire  of  the  world,’’  and  that 
he  has  exerted  the  greatest  influence,  when  time  and 
numbers  are  taken  into  the  account,  of  any  man  who  ever 
lived.  M.  Hue  says  : “ Never  has  it  been  given  to  any 

mortal  to  exercise  during  so  many  centuries,  so  extensive 
an  empire  over  his  fellow  creatures,  although  every  one 
Vnows  perfectly  well  that  Confucius  was  simply  a mortal 


20 


CHIXA. 


man,  who  lived  in  the  principality  of  Lausin,  six  centuritj 
before  the  Christian  era.”  He  is  not  a myth,  nor  a dem! 
god,  but  a true  historic  person,  who  taught  three  thousan 
disciples.  He  was  not  an  ascetic,  not  even  a spiritual  mar. 
He  lived  a hundred  years  later  than  Buddha,  and  ; 
hundred  years  earlier  than  Socrates.  There  are  i,5oC| 
temples  in  his  honor,  at  which  62,600  pigs,  rabbits,  sheefj 
and  deer,  and  27,000  pieces  of  silk  are  offered  annually. 
The  Chinese  claim  that  while  the  different  religions  fluctu- 
ate from  time  to  time,  “Confucianism  has  not  sufferedj 
attrition  through  myriads  of  ages,  and  it  has  regenerated 
China  in  government,  morals,  manners,  and  doctrines.” 
The  books  of  Confucius  are  the  text  bo(  ks  in  the  literary 
examinations  for  all  positions  in  the  government. 

Confucianism  not  a Spiritual  Religion. — Confucianism 
inculcates  benevolence,  propriety,  knowledge  and  faith, 
but  deals  rather  w’ith  morals  and  politics  than  religion,  and 
with  this  life  only.  “I  do  not  understand  life,  how  can  I 
know  death,”  said  Confucius.  It  has  one  part  of  the 
golden  rule,  teaching  that  “ what  you  w'ould  not  have 
others  do  to  you  do  not  to  them.”  It  fails  to  advance  to 
the  sentiment  that  we  ought  to  return  good  for  evil.  The 
fundamental  principle  of  Chinese  law  founded  on  the 
teachings  of  Confucius  is  that  of  the  filial  and  parental 
relation.  The  inferior  must  venerate  the  superior. 
Government,  general  and  local,  is  modelled  on  the  family, 
those  in  authority  are  parents,  the  people  are  the  children, 
and  the  Emperor  himself  is  son  of  Heaven.  It  is  the  most 
ancient  form  of  government,  the  patriarchial.  Of  the 
three  thousand  crimes  punishable  by  law,  none  is  reckoned 
so  great  as  disobedience  to  parents. 

The  Doctrines  of  Confucianism. — Mr.  Ern  ist  Faber,  a 


DOCTRINES  OF  CONFUCIANISM. 


21 


missionary  to  China,  in  a Digest  of  the  Doctrines  of  Con- 
fucianism thus  summarizes  its  defects  and  errors  ; — 

Confucianism  recognizes  no  relation  to  a living  God. 

There  is  no  distinction  made  between  the  human  soul 
and  the  body,  nor  is  there  any  clear  definition  of  man, 
either  from  a physical  or  from  a psychological  point  of  view. 

There  is  no  e.xplanation  given,  why  it  is  that  some  m.en 
are  born  saints,  and  others  as  ordinary  mortals. 

All  men  are  said  to  possess  the  disposition  and  strength 
necessary  for  the  attainment  of  moral  perfections,  but  the 
contrast  with  the  actual  state  remains  unexplained. 

There  is  wanting  in  Confucianism  a decided  and  serious 
tone  in  its  treatment  of  the  doctrine  of  sin,  for,  with  the 
exception  of  moral  retribution  in  social  life,  it  mentions  no 
punishment  for  sin. 

Confucianism  is  generally  devoid  of  a deeper  insight 
into  sin  and  evil. 

Confucianism  finds  it,  therefore,  impossible  to  explain 
death.  ^ 

Confucianism  knows  no  mediator,  none  that  could  restore 
original  nature  in  accordance  with  the  ideal  which  man 
finds  in  himself. 

Prayer  and  its  ethical  power,  finds  no  place  in  the  sys- 
tem of  Confucius. 

Though  confidence  is  indeed  frequently  insisted  upon, 
its  presupposition,  viz.,  truthfulness  in  speaking,  is  never 
practically  urged,  but  rather  the  reverse. 

Polygamy  is  presupposed  and  tolerated! 

Polytheism  is  sanctioned. 

Fortune-telling,  choosing  of  days,  omens,  dreams  and 
other  illusions  (of  phoenixes,  etc.,)  are  believed  in. 

Ethics  are  confounded  with  external  ceremonies  and  a 
precise  despotic  political  form. 

The  position  which  Confucius  assumed  toward  ancient 
institutions  is  a capricious  one. 

The  assertion  that  certain  musical  melodies  influence 
the  morals  of  the  people  is  ridiculous. 

The  influence  of  mere  good  example  is  exaggerated,  and 
Confucius  himself  proves  it  least  of  all. 

In  Confucianism  the  system  of  social  life  is  tyranny. 


22 


CH/XA. 


Women, are  slaves.  Children  have  no  rights  in  relation  t 1 
their  parents,  whilst  subjects  are  placed  in  the  position  c 
children  with  regard  to  their  superiors. 

Filial  piety  is  exaggerated  into  deification  of  parents. 

The  net  result  of  Confucius’  system,  as  drawn  by  himself 
is  the  worship  of  genius,  i.  e.  deification  of  man. 

There  is,  with  the  exception  of  ancestral  worship,  whicn 
is  devoid  of  any  true  ethical  value,  no  clear  conception  ol 
the  dogma  of  immortality. 

All  rewards  are  expected  in  this  world,  so  that  egotism  is 
unconsciously  fostered,  and  if  not  avarice,  at  least  ambition. 

The  whole  system  of  Confucianism  offers  no  comfort  to| 
ordinary  mortals,  either  in  life  or  in  death.  | 

The  history  of  China  shows  that  Confucianism  is  incapa-  ; 
ble  of  effecting  for  the  people  a new  birth  to  a higher  life  ' 
and  nobler  effects,  and  Confucianism  is  now  in  practical 
life  quite  alloyed  with  Shumanistic  and  Buddhistic  ideas 
and  practices. 

Confucius  a Failure. — Bishop  Wiley,  says,  “ China  can 
advance  no  further  until  she  breaks  away  from  and  passes 
on  beyond  Confucius.  He  has  been  a beneficent  con- 
servative power  during  the  past  centuries,  but  he  is  utterly 
unable  to  carry  his  people  beyond  the  semi-civilized  state 
in  which  they  have  been  living  for  twenty  centuries.” 
Edkins  says  Confucianism  has  failed  to  make  the  Chinese 
a moral  people.  The  habits  of  the  people  keep  the  stand- 
ard of  principle  low,  commercial  integrity  and  truth-speak- 
ing are  less  common  than  with  Christian  countries. 
Polygamy  is  a cause  of  moral  weakness.  There  is  no 
sense  of  shame  at  falsehood.  Domestic  slavery  promotes 
a vast  system  of  concubinage.  Yet  he  places  its  morality 
higher  than  that  of  Buddhism  or  Taoism. 

Confucianism  a Barrier  to  Christianity.  It  presents 
strong  resistance  to  the  Christianization  of  China.  A 
Chinese  preacher,  chaplain  to  the  English  Bishop  of 
Ningpo,  sa 


CONFUCIUS  A FAILURE. 


23 


(i.)  The  Confucian  religion  is  reverenced  by  all  classes, 
from  the  king  down  to  the  meanest  of  his  subjects.  (2.) 
All  power,  authority  and  renown,  come  through  the  Con- 
fucian religion.  (3.)  Its  roots  are  deeper  ; it  has  been 
reverenced  through  so  many  ages,  from  its  first  beginning 
until  the  present  day.  (4.)  Although  some  of  its  doctrines 
agree  with  Scripture,  some  are  opposed  to  it ; men  only 
know  the  parts  that  agree  and  pass  over  those  that  dis- 
agree. The  greatest  of  all  obstacles  is  the  Confucian  sect. 

2.  — Taoism. — Taoism  originated  B.  C.  604  with  Lautze 
or  Laou  Tsoo,  a contemporary  of  Confucius.  His  follow- 
ers became  astrologers,  alchemists,  geomancers  or  hermits, 
and  in  late  years  imitated  Buddhist  idol-worship  and  the 
monastic  system.  It  is  a profound  system  of  alchemy  and 
astrology.  It  has  a great  medicine-god  from  whom  all 
people  beg  prescriptions.  Thunder  is  produced  by  a god 
who  strikes  a hammer  and  drum  together,  and  lightning 
by  the  reflections  from  his  wife’s  mirror.  Dragon-worship 
constitutes  a prominent  feature  of  the  system.  Many  of 
the  national  gods  properly  belong  to  Taoism. 

3.  — Buddhism. — Buddhism  is  an  exotic  in  China.  It  was 
promulgated  by  missionaries  from  India,  when  in  its  giant 
duel  with  Brahmanism,  the  latter  succeeded  to  the  sover- 
eignty of  that  land.  Buddhism  in  its  integrity  does  not 
obtain  in  China  proper.  Thibet  has  a definite  but  indige- 
nous form  of  Buddhism.  It  exerts,  however,  a great 
influence  in  the  Chinese  empire.  Klaproth  claims  that 
“The  wild  nomads  of  Central  Asia  have  been  changed 
into  amiable  and  virtuous  men  by  it  and  its  beneficial 
influence  has  been  felt  in  Northern  Siberia.”  Edkins  says 
it  has  for  the  last  hundred  years  been  spreading  in  Siberia. 
He  concedes  the  good  result  from  the  Buddhist  teaching 
of  the  misery  of  vice  and  the  benefit  of  self-restraint,  but 
makes  a terrific  arraignment  of  its  deficiencies.  The  crime 


24 


CH/XA. 


of  killing,  for  instance,  rests  chiefly  on  the  doctrine  of  tht 
transmigration  of  souls  ; insects  must  not  be  killed  lest] 
one  cause  the  death  of  departed  relatives,  whose  souls 
inhabit  them  ; monks  are  vegetarians  for  the  same  reason, 
not  eating  flesh  because  it  involves  the  destruction  of  life. 
They  keep  reservoirs  of  water  near  mountains  for  the 
preservation  from  death  of  fish,  snakes,  tortoises,  shell-fish, 
and  succor  goats  and  birds  from  the  same  motive.  Thus 
Buddhist  morality  confounds  men  and  animals  as  alike 
having  an  immortal  soul.  Ideas  of  sin  and  misfortune  are 
also  confounded.  The  forgiveness  of  sin  is  obtained 
through  chanting  of  prayers,  and  an  ascetic  life. 

Two  popular  forms  of  the  religious  thought  and  habit 
of  the  Chinese  demand  special  notice. 

{a)  Ancestor  Worship. — The  worship  of  ancestors  ante- 
dates, but  was  adopted  by  Confucius  and  is  the  most 
powerful  religious  custom  affecting  China.  Mencius  says 
“ The  nourishment  of  parents  when  living  is  not  sufficient 
to  be  accounted  the  great  thing.  This  is  only  to  be  had 
by  performing  their  obsequies  when  dead.”  It  is  the  most 
universal  and  ancient  form  of  idolatry  found  in  the  country. 
It  hangs  a curtain  of  gloomy  superstition  over  the  land. 
Ancestral  halls  are  endowed  and  repaired  and  the  cere- 
monies perpetuated  thereby. 

Tablets  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  high  are  erected  for 
departed  relatives,  before  which  incense  is  burned  morning 
and  evening.  For  a deceased  father  the  ceremonial  must 
be  kept  up  for  forty-nine  days.  A bridegroom’s  ancestors 
must  be  worshipped  by  his  bride  as  well  as  himself.  When 
a scholar  obtains  his  degree,  when  an  officer  is  advanced 
in  rank,  and  on  anniversaries  of  births  and  deaths,  this 
worship  must  be  performed.  At  the  Festival  of  the  Tombs 
in  the  spring  time,  the  people  universally  have  a family 


I 


ANCESTOR  WORSHIP. 


25 


gathering  to  worship  the  dead.  In  ancestral  halls,  in 
private  rooms,  in  the  house,  before  a few  tablets  or  hun- 
dreds, the  worship  goes  on.  A family  is  mentioned  in  Can- 
ton having  eleven  hundred  tablets  in  each  of  two  rooms, 
with  the  third  containing  an  image  of  the  ancestor,  a dis- 
ciple of  Confucius  who  lived  B.  C.  300  years.  The  tablets 
are  arranged  from  above  downwards,  the  oldest  being  on 
the  top.  The  venerable  amongst  the  living  may  have 
tablets  also,  but  covered  with  red  paper. 

The  object  of  this  worship  is  two-fold,  viz.:  to  secure 
the  repose  of  the  dead,  to  provide  them  with  comfort, 
clothing,  furniture,  made  of  paper  and  transported  to  them 
by  burning  ; and  also  to  secure  the  worshipper  from  dam- 
age in  person,  business  or  property,  from  the  restless 
ghosts  of  these  departed  relations.  One-half  of  the  female 
population  of  China  devote  their  time  not  occupied  in 
domestic  duties,  to  making  articles  connected  with  ances- 
tral worship. 

The  custom  of  infant  marriages  is  largely  connected 
with  the  desire  for  heirs  who  will  perform  the  rites  due  to 
parents  after  their  decease.  The  same  notion  fosters 
polygamy.  It  tends  to  increase  the  localization  and  over- 
crowding of  the  population.  Chinese  dislike  to  emigrate 
because  they  must  leave  the  tombs  and  fail  in  the  worship 
of  their  ancestors.  The  family  of  Confucius  has  con- 
tinued through  sixty  generations  to  the  present  day  in  the 
same  locality.  The  eighteenth  day  of  the  second  moon  is 
kept  sacred  by  the  Chinese  as  the  anniversary  of  his  death. 
One  form  of  public  charity  consists  of  offerings  to  the 
dead  poor,  or  those  whose  burial  places  are  unknown. 
boy  having  lost  his  parents  when  young  and  unable  to 
trace  them,  made  wooden  representations  of  them  which 
he  worshipped. 


26 


CHLXA. 


A\  hen  a rebellion  breaks  out  in  any  of  the  eighteer’ 
provinces  the  first  step  taken  by  the  government  is  not  tcj 
raise  troops,  but  to  despatch  messengers  to  search  for  the 
ancestral  tombs  of  the  leaders  in  the  rebellion,  to  open  and 
desecrate  these  and  scatter  their  contents,  as  the  speediest 
method  of  spoiling  their  prospects  of  success.  In  the 
Taiping  rebellion  (1855)  the  Governor  of  the  Province  of 
Kwang-Si  stated  that  the  tomb  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the 
insurgents  having  been  invaded,  was  found  to  contain  a 
tortoise  with  green  hair,  which  was  killed  and  the  tomb 
destroyed. 

Of  the  five  Tartar  dynasties  which  have  ruled  in  China 
not  one  has  failed  to  adopt  the  national  religion  which 
always  includes  the  worship  of  the  ancestral  tablets  of  the 
Emperors.  Not  a tithe  of  the  money  and  thought  is 
e.xpended  on  other  features  of  Confucianism  and  Buddhism 
combined,  that  is  given  to  ancestral  worship. 

Estimated  Cost  of  the  Custom. — Dr.  Yates  in  the 


Chinese  Recorder  some  years  since,  and  more  recently,  with 
a slight  variation,  in  the  Shanghai  Conference,  estimates 
that  not  less  than  $6,000  are  expended  at  each  of  these 
festivals  giving  $18,000  annually  in  the  Shanghai  district 
for  charitable  ancestral  worship.  As  there  are  eighteen 
provinces  and  ninety  districts  to  a province,  taking  Shang- 
hai as  an  example,  the  amount  per  annum  for  the  district 
deity  would  be  $29,160,000.  Add  the  expenditure  for  the 
Foo  deities  and  the  amount  would  reach  $31,172,000, 
representing  however  only  one  public  charity  for  the  dead 
whose  burial  places  are  unknown,  independently  of  the 
same  sort  of  personal  and  private  sacrifice. 

The  amount  expended  by  each  family  in  the  worship  of 
their  own  ancestors  is  apart  from  this.  Our  author  esti- 
mates it  at  $1.50  per  person,  and  in  a population  of  four 


i 


COST  OF  THE  CUSTOM. 


27 


hundred  millions,  this  amounts  to  $120,000,000  to  which  at 
least  $60,000,000  must  be  added  for  charitable  ancestor 
worship. 

All  this  is  but  a part  of  China’s  tribute  to  her  servial 
superstitions.  The  living  generation  is  bound  to  the 
dead  generations.  China  does  not  think  forv/ard  but  back- 
ward. 

Rev.  H.  V.  Noyes,  in  the  Chinese  Recorder  of  July,  1881, 
gives  as  a specimen  of  general  Chinese  giving  for  idol- 
atrous purposes,  the  following;  The  statistics  are  for,  ist. 
The  yearly  income.  2nd.  The  expenditure  for  idolatrous 
purposes.  3rd.  The  proportion  this  is,  of  the  income. 


INCOME. 

EXPENDITURE. 

RATIO. 

I 

$120 

$29.30 

244-1000 

almost 

1-4 

2 

$ 60 

$14.84 

247-1000 

almost 

1-4 

3 

$ 84 

$2 1 .48 

256-1000 

more  than 

1-4 

4 

$ 60 

$21.^ 

362-1000 

more  than 

1-3 

5 

S 53'A 

$ 7-31 

2 19- 1000 

more  than 

1-5 

6 

$ 54 

$12.20 

226-1000 

more  than 

1-5 

7 

$ 663^ 

$12.72 

igi-  1000 

less  than 

1-5 

8 

S133K 

$25.11 

1 88- 1 000 

less  than 

1-5 

9 

$ 48 

$20.20 

42I-IOOO 

more  than 

2-5 

We  thus  see  that  these  expenditures  range  from  a little 
less  than  one-fifth  to  a little  more  than  two-fifths  of  the 
income. 


(A)  Feng  Shui. — The  other  popular  superstition  which 
we  must  note  is  that  known  as  Feng  Shui,  and  is  closely 
allied  with  the  preceding. 

Translated  in  the  vernacular  of  the  western  ‘-'bar- 
barian ” it  is  the  “ Science  of  Luck.”  A mysterious 
principle  pervades  earth,  air  and  water — but  is  unequally 
distributed  in  different  localities,  on  the  presence  of 
which  depends  bodily  vigor,  family  prosperity,  and  busi- 
ness success.  The  fortunes  of  each  family  are  involved 
in  securing  a spot  most  pervaded  with  it  for  the  tombs 
of  parents.  Spots  thus  selected  for  tombs  years  before 


28 


CHINA. 


use,  when  opened,  are  reported  to  have  been  found  witi 
lamps  burning  in  them,  lighted  years  before.  When  thi 
luck  doctors  point  out  such  an  auspicious  place  for  I 
tomb,  if  in  a neighbor’s  field,  it  mus'  be  bought  at  ana 
price.  I 

Feng  Shui  determines  as  much  the  C(  nduct  of  the  livintj 
as  the  burial  of  the  dead.  It  has  a political  status.  Dr! 
Eitel  says,  “When  there  is  anywhere  in  China  a dispute! 
between  the  people  on  the  ground  of  alleged  interference 
with  the  disturbance  of  the  Feng  Shut  aspects  of  a grave 
or  house,  the  judicial  tribunals  of  China  will  entertain 
the  claim,  e.xamine  into  its  merits,  and  decide  the  case  on 
the  presumption  that  Feng  Shui  is  a reality  and  a truth, 
not  a fiction.  When  land  had  to  be  ceded  to  the  hated 
foreigners  up  and  down  the  China  coast  as  a so-called 
‘ Foreign  Concession,’  the  Chinese  government  would 
invariably  select  a spot  condemned  by  the  experts  in 
Feng  Shui  as  one  that  combined  a deadly  breath  with 
all  those  indications  of  the  compass  which  imply  dire 
calamities  upon  all  that  settle  down  there,  and  upon  their 
children’s  children.  If  the  spot  had  not  to  be  ceded 
by  treaty  it  would  be  pointed  out  to  the  unsuspecting 
foreigner  as  the  only  one  open  for  sale,  and  anyhow  the 
ignorant  barbarian  sceptic  would  become  the  supposed 
dupe  and  laughing  stock  of  the  astute  Chinaman.  Witness, 
for  instance,  the  views  held  by  intelligent  Chinese  with 
regard  to  the  island  of  Shameen,  the  Foreign  Concession, 
so  to  say,  of  Canton.  It  was  originally  a mud  flat  in 
the  Canton  river  in  the  very  worst  position  Feng  Shui 
knows  of.” 

The  Peking  government  was  memorialized  a few  years 
since,  the  memorialists  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  trees  around  the  tombs  of  the  deceased  Emperors 


FENG-SHUI. 


n 

were  being  destroyed.  The  government  commanded  its 
discontinuance  if  it  should  be  found  to  interfere  with  the 
Feng  Shui  of  the  Imperial  Burial  Grounds.  All  this 
^ntei's,  too,  into  the  common  life  of  the  people.  A house 
jean  only  be  built  on  a certain  spot  or  the  corners  of  it 
jlfeet  in  a given  way  ; the  doors  set  originally  or  changed 
'subsequently;  the  chimneys  built  above  a determined 
height,  or  garbage  thrown  but  on  a prescribed  side  of 
the  building,  without  interference  with  good  Feng  Shur. 
To  have  success  in  a business  undertaking,  a son  born  in 
a house,  sickness  averted,  lawsuits  successfully  conducted, 
or  to  win  literary  honors,  Feng  Shui  must  be  properly 
and  carefully  regarded. 

Each  person  as  well  as  each  village  has  his  own  Feng 
Shui,  and  as  these  conflict,  endless  lawsuits  grow  out  of 
disputes  about  interference  with  it.  He  is  a bad  man 
indeed  who  would  cut  down  a tree,  or  change  the  course 
of  a road,  thereby  disturbing  the  relations  of  Feng  ShuL 
It  has  within  a few  years  past  been  made  the  basis  of 
objection  to  the  erection  of  telegraph  poles  at  Shanghai; 
to  railways  because  the  embankment  diverted  the  course 
of  water  ; to  a road  from  Tientsin  to  the  Chaitang  coal 
mines  ; to  the  erection  of  church  steeples  because,  being 
higher  than  the  surrounding  buildings,  they  disturbed 
Feng  Shui  ; to  the  building  of  bridges,  the  working  of 
coal  mines,  the  digging  of  proposed  canals,  the  height 
of  foreigners’  residences  and  warehouse,  and  to  many 
other  things  which  involved  elevations  or  the  relations, 
of  running  water.  Missionaries’  residences  have  to  be 
controlled  by  this  species  of  divination, — “ this  blind 
groping  of  the  Chinese  mind,”  as  Dr.  Eitel  considers  it, 
“after  a system  of  natural  science.”  The  government 
at  Hang  Chow  ordered  the  missionaries  to  another  site 


30 


CHINA. 


altogether,  because  the  place  they  occupied  was  near  one 
of  the  most  famous  natural  objects  in  the  whole  province, 
and  the  American  missionaries  had  built  on  it  a chapel 
so  lofty,  that  it  changed  a most  fortunate  aspect  into  one 
sinisfer  and  malign  and  thereby  occasioned  apprehension 
to  the  citizens.  The  church  and  school  architecture  and 
the  very  sites  of  our  missions  must  thus  be  controlled 
by  the  Science  of  Luck. 

Inefficiency  of  the  Chinese  Religion. — Large  benevo- 
lence and  kindness  to  both  men  and  animals  have  been 
claimed  for  the  Chinese  as  the  result  of  their  religions. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Buddhist  doctrine  of  metempsy- 
chosis does  superinduce  some  carefulness  in  the  matter  ' 
of  destroying  life,  but  the  cruel  and  inhuman  character  ' 
of  Chinese  punishments  at  law,  show  the  absolu  e failure 
of  all  these  religions  combined  to  master  the  barbarous 
element  of  heathenism. 

In  the  Chinese  army  the  penalty  of  opium-smoking 
consists  of  slitting  the  upper  lip  for  the  first  offense 
and  decapitation  for  the  second.  Cutting  the  flesh  off  a 
living  criminal  is  mentioned  as  a Chinese  reformatory 
measure.  The  editor  of  the  China  Mail  published  at 
Hong  Kong,  thus  describes  Ling-Chih  : 

“It  means  being  tied  to  a cross  and  then  subjected  to 
tortures  so  fiendish  that  even  the  North  American  Indian 
has  never  invented  an3'thing  more  horrible ; that  the  i 
death  agony  is  prolonged  through  such  operations  as  ' 
flaying  the  face,  cutting  off  the  breasts,  excising  the 
muscles,  nipping  off  the  fingers  and  toes,  and  finally 
disemboweling  the  wretched  victim  who  even  then  has 
been  kno\vn  to  manifest  signs  of  life  ! ” 

He  then  gives  the  following  account  of  “everyday” 
punishments  in  China : 


IXEFFICIEiXCY  OF  THE  CHINESE  RELIGION.  3s 

These  are  described  by  a well-known  writer — and  we 
can  confirm  most  of  his  statements  from  personal  knowJ- 
»l  edge — as  follows  : Compressing  the  ankles  and  squeezing 
J the  fingers,  until  crushed,  between  boards  ; twisting  the 
j ears,  kneeling  on  chains,  striking  the  lips  until  jellied, 
j putting  the  hands  in  stocks  behind  the  back,  or  tying  the 
hands  to  a bar  under  the  knees  and  chaining  the  neck  to 
' a stone.  Cases  are  officially  recorded  of  nailing  prisoners' 
* hands  between  boards,  using  beds  of  iron,  scalding  with 
. boilding  water,  insetting  red  hot  spikes,  cutting  the  tendon 
Achilles  and  burying  the  body  up  to  the  neck  in  lime, 
while  the  prisoner  is  forced  to  swallow  large  draughts 
of  water.  Finally,  a lighter  (?)  punishment  is  to  make 
the  criminal  kneel  on  a mixture  of  pounded  glass,  sand 
and  salt  until  the  knees  are  excoriated.  Flogging  to 
death  with  the  bamboo  is  also  not  uncommon.  There  are 
many  other  minor  punishments,  but  we  have  omitted  one 
we  knew  to  be  practiced  at  Shanghai  on  some  rebels 
captured  by  the  Imperialists  during  the  Taiping  rebellion, 
driving  fine  spikes  of  bamboo  down  between  the  nails 
and  the  fingers  or  toes.  If  devilish  ingenuity  can  go 
^ further  than  this,  we  shall  be  surprised. 

I The  editor  closes  by  saying  : 

In  the  name  of  common  humanity — not  of  the  picture- 
pocket-handkerchief  sort — we  call  upon  our  colonial  gov- 
■ ernment  to  take  measures  to  remove  from  our  flag  the 
' shame  of  participating  in  such  doings. 

Nor  does  such  treatment  of  dead  infants  as  Dr.  Martin 
of  the  Imperial  College  at  Peking  describes,  speak  well 
for  the  humanitarism  of  Buddhism.  He  says  ; 

Among  the  Chinese,  infant  funerals  are  unknown, 
* * * As  soon  as  the  last  breath  is  drawn,  the  little 

body  .is  committed  to  the  hand  of  a stranger  who  buries  it 
in  some  unknown  spot,  or  casts  it  in  one  of  those  offensive 
receptacles  for  the  untimely  fruits  of  the  tree  of  human- 
ity, which  are  known  to  Europeans  by  the  designation  of 
“ baby  towers.”  '.Vith  no  weeping  father  to  follow  the  little 
coffin  (if  coffin  it  has),  and  no  tender  mother  to  plant 
flowers  on  the  little  grave  (if  grave  it  has),  it  is  cast  out  as 


an  unclean  thing  and  consigned  to  speedy  oblivion — often- 
times indeed  abandoned  to  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the 
birds  of  the  air. 

The  reason  of  this  strange  anomaly — this  seeming 
exception  of  the  laws  of  nature — is  found  in  the  teachings 
of  a perverse  creed.  Buddhism  inculcates  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls,  and  it  resorts  to  a monstrous  fiction  in 
order  to  account  for  the  death  of  children,  at  an  age  when 
they  are  unable  to  repay  the  kindness  and  care  of  their 
parents.  • 

He  then  explains  that  such  infants  are  regarded  as 
creditors,  who  in  a former  state,  failing  to  obtain  their 
dues,  have  come  thus  into  the  family  in  the  form  of 
infants,  and  staid  long  enough  to  get  the  equivalent  of 
the  arrears,  principal  and  interest.  A sick  child,  he  tells 
us,  is  watched  with  tender  solitude,  but  when  dead  they 
endeavor  to  efface  every  trace  of  the  child’s  existence, 
carefully  obliterating  the  footsteps  of  the  stranger  who 
bore  it  away,  and  smiting  with  a knife  on  the  threshold 
as  it  passes  the  door  in  token  of  severing  the  last  link  that 
bound  it  to  the  family. 

Nor  do  we  suppose  it  unfair  to  hold  ancestor  worship 
responsible  largely  for  the  infanticide  of  female  children. 
Prayer  is  never  offered  for  female  children,  and  their  com- 
ing is  viewed  as  a calamity.  A Chinese  official  report 
says,  “ Many  of  them  are  consigned  to  the  nearest  pond  or 
stream.”  They  are  often  drowned  in  tubs  of  water, 
strangled  or  buried  alive  as  one  might  a litter  of  kittens, 
and  all  this  largely  and  often  wholly  because  they,  as 
girls,  cannot  make  offerings  of  food  at  the  family  tombs 
and  in  the  ancestral  halls.  To  secure  these  infants  from 
death,  mothers  often  obtain  the  promise  of  their  adoption 
by  some  family  as  wives  for  their  sons,  or  sell  them  at  an 
early  age  at  the  highest  price,  in  the  same  terms  they 
would  describe  any  other  sale  of  property,  as  additional 


vV- 

EARLY iSSIOXS.  33 

wives,  concubines,  or  slaves,  the  buyer  having  right  to 
re-sell. 

We  charge  much  of  this  on  ancestral  worship,  as  we  do 
the  ambition  which  is  inspired  in  widows  to  starve,  drown 
or  otherwise  destroy  themselves  as  “ virtuous  and  filial,” 
that  tablets  on  which  their  names  are  inscribed  may  be 
placed  in  the  temples  and  incense  offered  them  by  the 
Chinese  gentry. 

VI.— CHRISTIANITY  IN  CHINA. 

[ 

Early  Missions. — It  is  probable  that  Christianity  was 
introduced  at  a very  early  date  into  China.  In  the  sixth 
century  the  Nestorian  Christains  had  missious  there  [See 
Gibbon  and  Mosheim.]  These  became  flourishing  a 
century  later.  Six  or  seven  emperors  of  the  Tang  dynasty 
favored  Christianity,  and  parts  of  the  Bible  were  translated 
and  placed  “in  the  library  of  the  palace.”  In  the  ninth 
century,  persecution  sent  three  thousand  Christian  priests 
into  private  life,  and  subsequently  “scattered  the  Christians 
and  changed  their  places  of  worship  into  heathen  temples.” 
A century  later  than  this  (the  seventeenth),  the  Jesuits 
found  traces  of  these  Nestorian  missions. 

The  Roman  Catholics  have  had  missions  in  China  for 
nearly  six  hundred  years,  though  with  a fluctuating  for- 
tune. After  seventy-six  years  they  were  almost  wholly 
broken  up.  Recently  they  have  increased  their  force  of 
workers  ; in  1870  they  claimed  404,530  adherents. 

The  Greek  church  was  established  in  Peking  in  1685, 
and  four  years  later  a treaty,  formed  between  the  Russian 
and  Chinese  governments,  resulted  in  the  permanent 
establishment  of  a college  of  Greek  priests  at  the  Chinese 
capital.  It  was  not  until  recent  years  that  they  attempted 
to  make  proselytes. 


34 


CH/IVA. 


Modern  Missions.— Protestant  missions  in  China  werei 
begun  by  the  London  Missionary  Society  sending  Rev 
Robeit  Morrison  to  Canton  in  1807.  Morrison’s  tempeil 
was  manifest  when  he  prepared  for  the  Divinity  school  at 
night,  after  making  boot-trees  all  day.  He  was  indomit- 
able. Unable  to  do  direct  missionary  work,  he  labored  as 
a ser\  ant  of  the  East  India  Company  in  compiling  a 
Chinese  dictionary  and  translating  the  Rible  into  that 
tongue.  For  six  years  he  labored  alone,  then  he  was  joined 
by  William  Milne,  of  like  spirit,  who  at  sixteen  was  wont 
to  spend  whole  evenings  in  prayer  in  the  sheep-cotes  of 
his  native  Scotland.  In  1814  Morrison  baptized  his  first 
convert,  and  issued  the  New  Testament  in  Chinese.  In 
1818  he  and  Milne  jointly  published  the  whole  Bible  in  | 
that  language.  Up  to  1841,  fifty-eight  missionaries  ! 
reached  China  and  the  Maylayan  Archipelago.  In  1842, 
the  missionaries  outside  of  China  proper,  feeling  unsafe, 
removed  to  the  treaty  ports  in  China.  For  eighteen  years 
they  labored  at  these  five  ports  and  at  Hong  Kong.  In 
i860  ten  new  ports  were  opened  in  North  China  and  up  the 
\ang-tse  river,  where  missionaries  were  soon  established. 
Since  then  the  whole  country  has  been  opened,  and  Hon.  j 
Wm.  B.  Reed,  the  American  Ambassador,  said  toleration 
was  introduced  into  the  treaty  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
Chinese  themselves. 

This  was  done  by  Article  XXIX  of  the  United  States 
treaty  with  China,  which  is  as  follows  ; 

“ The  principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  as  professed 
by  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  Churches  are  i 
recognized  as  teaching  men  to  do  good,  and  to  do  to 
others  as  they  would  have  others  do  to  them.  Hereafter, 
those  who  quietly  profess  and  teach  these  doctrines  shall 
not  be  harassed  or  persecuted  on  account  of  their  faith. 


MODERN  MISSIONS. 


3S 


,1  Any  person,  whether  citizen  of  the  United  States  or 
Chinese  convert,  who  according  to  these  tenets  peaceably 
j teaches  and  practices  the  principles  of  Christianity  shall  in 
no  case  be  interfered  with  or  molested.” 

The  China  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
|i  were  begun  in  Foo  Chow,  China,  in  1847.  The  good  ship 
“Heber”  arrived  at  Hong  Kong  August  14th,  of  that 
year.  Rev.  Moses  C.  White,  M.  D.,  now  medical  professor 
in  Yale  College,  and  Rev.  J.  D.  Collins,  who  “ rests  from 
his  labors,”  but  whose  “works  do  follow  him,”  sailed  for 
China  by  that  vessel.  Collins  had  long  plead  with  the 
Board  to  send  him  to  China,  but  they  could  not  see  the 
way  clear  to  begin  a mission  in  that  land.  Finally  Collins 
wrote  to  Bishop  Janes,  asking  him  once  more  to  place  his 
application  before  the  Board,  and  if  they  should  decline  it, 
that  a passage  might  be  engaged  for  him  before  the  mast 
on  the  first  vessel  sailing  for  China,  adding  “;/(>'  own  strong 
arm  can  pull  me  to  China,  and  support  me  after  I get  there” 

Such  was  the  metal  of  the  man  that  the  Board  felt  that 
they  must  send  him.  The  faith  to  'begin  this  mission  in 
China  was  inspired  of  the  Christian  heroism  of  Collins. 
For  ten  years  this  Society  labored  in  China  without  a 
convert. 

Chinese  Converts. — Christianity  is  the  power  of  God  to 
the  salvation  of  • Chinese.  Witness  the  testimony  of  con- 
verts, their  endurance  of  persecution  on  account  of  Chris- 
tianity. their  zeal  in  propagating  it,  and  the  testimony  of 
others  to  their  integrity. 

Let  us  glance  at  a few  instances  : 

1.  A Confucian  temple  keeper  named  Ch’e  at  the  city 
of  Poklo,  on  the  Canton  East  River,  received  the  Scrip- 
tures from  a colporteur  of  the  London  Mission,  became 
convinced  of  the  folly  of  idolatry,  and  was  baptized  by 


36 


CHLXA. 


Dr.  Legge.  He  gave  up  his  calling,  and  set  to  work 
among  his  acquaintances  and  friends  as  a self-appointed 
Scripture  reader.  He  would  go  through  the  streets  of  the 
city  and  the  country  round  with  a board  on  his  back  rcn- 
taining  some  text  of  Scripture.  So  successful  was  he  that 
in  about  three  years’  time,  about  one  hundred  of  the  people 
were  baptized.  And  so  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God, 
and  prevailed,  that  surprise  and  hostility  were  excited,  and 
a fierce  persecution  broke  out.  The  Christians  were  driven 
from  the  villages  and  their  property  was  plundered.  Ch’e, 
the  colporteur,  was  seized,  and  twice  within  forty-eight 
hours  dragged  before  the  Literati,  and  called  upon  to 
recant.  This  he  steadfastly  refused  to  do.  He  was  there- 
fore tortured  by  being  suspended  by  the  arms  during  the 
night.  The  next  morning  he  was  brought  forward  in  an 
enfeebled  state,  pale  and  trembling,  for  a second  trial. 
The  officials  and  mandarins  were  cowed  into  submission  by 
the  gentry  ; but  this  brave  old  man  was  still  firm  in  his 
resolve  to  cleave  to  the  Bible  and  to  Christ,  and  expressed 
a hope  that  his  judges  would  some  day  embrace  the  new 
doctrine.  This  was  more  than  they  could  tolerate,  and, 
like  the  judges  of  Stephen,  they  ran  upon  him  with  one 
accord  and  killed  him  by  repeated  blows  of  their  side 
arms,  and  threw  him  into  the  river.  Thus  perished  the 
first  Protestant  Christian  Martyr  of  China. 

2.  A Chinese  merchant  came  into  the  American  Bap- 
tist Mission  Chappel  in  Shanghai  and  after  talking  with 
him  for  a short  time.  Dr.  Yates  sold  him  a copy  of  the  New 
Testament.  He  took  it  home,  200  or  300  miles  away,  and 
after  about  three  months  appeared  again  in  the  chapel. 
He  came  back  to  say  that  he  was  under  the  impression 
that  the  book  was  not  complete,  that  surely  it  must  have 
other  parts,  and  so  he  came  to  get  the  Old  Testament,  as 


CmXESE  COXVERTS. 


37 


he  had  read  and  studied  the  New.  What  had  he  done 
with  the  New  Testament  ? He  had  taken  it  to  his  home 
and  shown  it  to  the  schoolmasters  and  the  reading  people 
They  said,  “ This  is  a good  book.  Confucius  himself  must 
have  had  something  to  do  with  k.”  As  there  was  only 
one  copy,  they  unstitched  this  one,  and  took  it  leaf  by  leaf, 
and  all  those  who  could  zurite  took  a leaf  home.  They  made 
i twelve  or  fifteen  copies  complete  of  the  New  Testament, 
I and  introduced  it  into  their  schools  without  any  “conscience 
; clause.”  It  was  introduced  as  a class-book,  throughout 
that  district,  for  heathen  schools. 

3.  “I  am  addicted  to  every  sin  you  can  imagine,”  said 
' Liu  Kin  Shan  to  Rev.  Griffiths  John.  “I  am  an  opium 
I smoker,  a fornicator,  a gambler,  a drunkard,  an  unfilial 

son,  and  everything  that  is  bad.  Can  Jesus  Christ  save  me  ?” 
[ He  had  strolled  into  the  chapel  at  Hankow.  The  preacher 
said  “Yes.”  They  prayed,  and  instantaneous  conversion 
i followed,  and  Liu,  now  more  than  fifty  years  old,  is  the 
' center  of  a gospel  work  in  his  own  locality,  where  he  was 
widely  known  as  a riotous  libertine. 

4.  A proprietor  of  a gambling  hell  in  Che’i  Kiang 
Province  heard  a Chinese  Christian  preaching  in  the  streets 

, of  his  own  city,  unaccompanied  by  a foreign  missionary 
and  all  alone.  “ The  Saviour  of  whom  I speak  is  mighty 
to  save,”  said  he  ; “ He  is  able  to  cure  the  opium  smoker 
: of  his  opium  smoking.  He  is  able  to  cure  the  gambler  of 
his  propensities  for  gambling,  the  debauchee  of  his  bad 
habits,  and  you  know  very  well  that  it  is  useless  for  men 
who  are  addicted  to  these  evils,  to  try  to  cure  themselves. 
But  the  Saviour  whom  I preach,  Jesus  Christ,  is  mighty  to 
save.”  The  gambling  hell  proprietor  said:  “If  this 
Jesus  can  save  me  he  shall,”  and  he  went  home,  closed  that 
gambling  place,  sent  all  the  bad  women  away,  and  a part 


38  CHIXA. 

of  the  house  has  since  been  used  for  preaching  the  gospel. j 

5.  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  mis- 
sion says:  “A  man  who  had  been  an  opium  smoker,  and| 
an  opium  seller,  by  name  of  Ling  Ching  Ting  was  con-i 
verted  at  Foochow. 

In  1863,  accidentally  hearing  Rev.  S.  L.  Binkley  preach-; 
ing,  he  went  to  him  and  said  : ‘‘  Did  you  say  that  Jesus 

(I  never  heard  of  Him  before  ; I don’t  know  who  He  is)  ; 
but  did  you  say  that  He  can  save  me  from  all  my  sins  ?” 
“Yes,”  replied  Mr.  Binkley,  “that  is  just  what  1 said.” 

“ But,”  the  Chinaman  responded,  “you  didn’t  know  me 
when  you  said  that  ; you  didn’t  know  that  I had  been  a 
gambler  and  a sorcerer  for  many  years  ; you  didn’t  know 
that  I had  been  a licentious  man  ; you  didn’t  know  that  I 
had  been  an  opium-smoker  for  twenty  years,  and  every  one 
knows  that  any  man  who  has  smoked  opium  for  that 
length  of  time  can  never  be  cured  of  the  habit.  If  you 
had  known  all  this,  you  wouldn’t  have  said  that  Jesus  can  j 
save  me  from  all  my  sins — would  you?”  “Yes,”  replied 
the  missionary,  “I  would  have  said  just  what  I did  ; and  I 
tell  you  now  that  Jesus  can  save  you  from  all  your  sins.” 

The  poor,  sinful  Chinaman  was  bewildered.  It  seemed 
to  him  impossible  of  belief.  Yet  there  was  a charm  about 
the  very  idea  of  a Saviour,  who  could  deliver  him  from  all 
his  sins.  He  went  away  in  deep  thought.  The  ne.xt  day 
he  sought  Mr.  Binkley  at  his  residence,  to  talk  with  him 
about  this  wonderful  Saviour  ; and  day  after  day  for  many 
days  he  came,  examining  the  proofs  of  Christianity,  and 
bringing  his  objections  to  be  solved  by  the  missionary. 
But  one  day  he  came  to  the  missionary’s  study  with  a 
radiant  countenance,  exclaiming  as  he  entered  : “ I know 
it ! I know  it  ! I know  that  Jesus  can  save  me  from  my 
sins  ; for  he  has  done  it ! ” 

One  day  he  came  and  said  : “ I don’t  want  to 

smoke  opium  any  more  ; I don’t  want  to  do  any  of  the  evil 
things  I have  been  doing  ; but  I want  to  go  and  tell  the 
people  of  Hok-chiang  that  Jesus  can  save  them  from  their 
sins.”  When  his  friends  heard  of  his  purpose,  they  tried  to 
dissuade  him,  saying,  “ Don’t  go  down  there  ; the  people 


CHIXESE  CONVERTS. 


39 


are  fighting  all  the  time  ; they  will  soon  take  your  head 
off,  and  that  will  stop  your  preaching.  If  you  will  preach 
the  ‘foreign  doctrine,’  stay  here  at  Foochow  and  preach  it 
where  you  will  be  safe.”  But  he  replied,  “ No,  I must  go 
to  Hok-chiang.  The  people  there  need  the  Gospel,  and 
they  are  my  people.  I came  from  there  and  I must  go 
there  and  tell  them  about  Jesus.” 

There  was  no  time  for  a theological  course  or  for  theo- 
logical training.  He  went  out  with  the  word  of  God  in  his 
hand,  and  the  experience  of  his  Saviour’s  love  in  his  heart. 
His  simple  message  to  the  people  everywhere  was,  “Jesus 
can  save  you  from  all  your  sins  ; I know  it,  for  he  has 
saved  me  from  mine  ! ” He  suffered  much  persecution — 
stoned  in  one  place,  pelted  with  mud  in  another,  beaten 
in  another,  he  pressed  on  with  indomitable  energy,  pro- 
claiming everywhere  his  simple  message  of  salvation. 
Many  listened  to  his  earnest  words  and  became  followers 
of  Christ. 

.\fter  a time  he  was  caught  by  his  enemies  in  the  city  of 
Hok-chiang,  and  brought  before  the  district  magistrate, 
with  false  charges  against  him,  and  false  witnesses  to 
testify  to  them  ; and  the  too-willing  heathen  magistrate 
sentenced  him  to  be  beaten  with  two  thousand  stripes. 
This  cruel  sentence  was  executed  with  the  bamboo  upon 
the  bare  back  of  the  victim.  I well  remember  the  day  he 
1 was  brought  to  our  Mission  premises,  apparently  almost 
dead.  I well  remember  the  sorrowful  countenance  of  our 
good  Scotch  physician,  as  he  came  out  of  the  room  after 
examining  his  patient,  and  said,  “ I don’t  think  we  can 
save  him.  I never  saw  such  terrible  injuries  from  beating. 
The  flesh  on  his  back  is  like  quivering  jelly.  But  we  will 
do  our  best  to  save  him.”  I remember  how  I thought  over 
some  of  the  comforting  words  of  Jesus,  as  I made  my  way 
i toward  the  room,  that  I might  try  to  comfort  my  brother 
in  his  great  distress  ; and  I remember,  too,  the  smile  with 
which  he  greeted  me,  and  how  he,  speaking  first,  before  1 
had  a chance  to  say  anything,  said  : “ Teacher,  this  poor 

body  is  in  great  pain  just  now  ; but  my  inside  heart  has 
great  peace.  Jesus  is  with  me  ; and  I think  perhaps  He 
will  take  me  to  heaven,  and  1 will  be  glad  to  go.”  And 


40 


CHIXA. 


then  I could  see  the  old  fire  flashing  again  in  his  eyes,  as 
with  effort  he  raised  himself  a little  from  his  bed,  and  said, 
“ But  if  I get  up  from  this,  you’ll  let  me  go  back  to 
Hok-chiang,  won’t  you  ? ” 

He  was  in  a precarious  condition  for  some  time,  but 
soon  began  to  mend  ; a'nd  before  the  missionaries  thought 
he  ought  to  leave  the  premises,  he  was  off  again  to  Hok- 
chiang,  preaching  to  the  very  men  who  had  persecuted 
him,  and  with  such  effect  that  some  of  them  were  con- 
verted and  became  members  of  our  church  in  that  city. 

He  continued  to  preach  with  much  energy  and  success 
for  a period  of  fourteen  years.  He  was  ordained  by  Bishop 
Kingsley,  in  1869.  Soon  after  he  was  appointed  to  Teng- 
tiong  in  1876,  finding  himself  very  ill,  he  went  to  his 
native  island  of  Lam-yit,  hoping  to  improve  in  the  sea 
breezes,  and  under  the  care  of  physicians  there.  But 
when,  after  some  weeks,  they  told  him  that  his  case  was 
hopeless,  and  that  he  could  not  live  many  weeks,  he  said  : 
“Then  I must  go  back  to  my  station.  I only  came  here 
in  hope  of  getting  well,  so  as  to  do  longer  service  ; but  if 
I cannot,  then  I want  to  go  where  my  work  is,  and  die  at 
my  post.”  So,  in  his  feebleness,  he  made  his  way  back  to 
Teng-tiong  ; and  when  he  could  no  longer  stand  to  preach, 
he  sat  down,  gathered  the  Christians  close  around  him,  and 
talked  to  them  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  his  power  to  save 
from  sin. 

While  on  one  of  the  islands  off  the  coast  he  preached 
earnestly.  A number  of  the  poor  islanders  were  soon 
added  to  the  Church.  Among  the  inquirers  was  a man 
who  had  been  a wicked  pirate.  He  came  to  Ching  Ting 
saying  that  he  w’as  convinced  that  the  religion  he  preached 
was  true,  and  he  wanted  to  be  a Christian.  He  would 
immediately  give  up  his  piracy  ; but  there  was  one  little 
thing  he  thought  he  would  hold  on  to.  Said  he,  “You 
know  that  some  time  ago  we  made  a covenant  with  the 
fishermen  here,  by  which  we  agreed  to  leave  their  nets 
alone  at  all  times  except  the  ist  and  15th  of  each  month, 
and  they  agreed  that  we  should  have  all  the  fish  we  should 


CHINESE  CON  CEE  TS. 


41 


find  in  them  on  those  days.  Now  that  is  an  agreement 
between  us,  and  I think  it  will  be  right  for  me  to  continue 
to  take  the  fish.”  Ching  Ting  thought  that  the  man  was 
being  led  by  the  Spirit,  and  not  wishing  to  discourage  him, 
he  expressed  no  opinion  about  his  taking  the  fish,  he  said  : 
“Well,  I’ll  put  your  name  right  down  as  a probationer  in 
the  M.  E.  Church,  and  I will  pray  God  to  lead  you  into 
the  right,  about  all  things.”  So  we  had  a probationer  in 
the  M.  E.  Church  who  was  purposing  to  steal  fish  twice  a 
month  from  the  poor  fishermen.  He  could  not  have  done 
it  more  than  once,  however,  after  this,  for  about  three 
weeks  after  that  time  he  came  to  Ching  Ting,  and  said 
with  tears,  “Oh,  Ching  Ting,  this  fish  business  is  all  wrong, 
too.  It  is  stealing  from  the  poor  fishermen.  I must  give 
it  up,  I w'ant  to  be  a whole-hearted  Christian  ; and  you 
must  pray  for  me  and  help  me  to  be  one.”  So  this  great 
burly  pirate  became  a humble  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  work  spread  southward  from  Hok-Chiang 
through  the  Prefecture  of  Hing-Hwa  where  there  are 
now  five  hundred  communicants  in  the  M.  E.  Church.  Ling 
Ching  Ting  died  in  good  ministerial  standing  in  1877. 

6.  One  day  a mandarin  entered  the  shop  of  an  old 
cloth  merchant,  a convert  in  the  Amoy  region  where  the 
English  Presbyterians  were  laboring.  The  old  man 
surmised  their  intention  to  oppress  and  persecute  him. 
“I  know  what  you  have  come  for,”  said  he,  and  taking 
dowm  some  of  the  goods,  pointed  to  them  and  to  the  rest 
in  the  shop  and  said,  “Take  them  and  take  me  also.  I am 
an  old  man  and  very  deaf.  You  may  take  my  boys  also 
and  my  little  girl.  We  are  all  Christians  and  willing  to  go 
to  prison.”  This  man  was  amongst  the  first  converts  of 
the  mission  wLich  numbers  more  than  seventy  stations  and 
3,312  communicants. 


42 


CHINA. 


7.  When  the  Methodist  chapel  at  Ing  Ching  was  dam- 
aged by  a mob  in  1878,  the  government  awarded  one  native 
Christian  30,000  “cash”  on  account  of  physical  injuries, 
but  he  declined  to  take  it  as  he  did  not  wish  to  appear  to 
receive  money-compensation  for  his  persecution  for  Christ’s 
sake.  “They  can  cut  off  our  heads,”  said  some  grave 
Christians  to  Rev.  Mr.  Stevenson,  “ but  they  cannot  behead 
Christ.” 

8.  Ling  Seng-Ki  is  a steward  in  the  Methodist  circuit 
of  Hung-ting.  On  a Sunday  evening  in  March,  1878, 
when  returning  home  from  church,  he  was  waylaid  by  three 
men  of  the  village,  close  by  his  house.  They  took  him  to 
the  house  of  one  of  them,  where  they  gave  him  supper, 
then  deliberately  led  him  to  the  newly  repaired  temple,  for 
which  he  had  refused  to  give  aid,  and  there,  in  the 
presence  of  over  twenty  villagers,  his  hands  were  tied 
with  a cord  behind  his  back,  a rope  was  then  attached  to 
this  cord  and  passed  over  a beam,  by  which  he  was  drawn 
up  a foot  or  more  from  the  ground,  and  thus  suspended  in 
excruciating  torture  for  more  thmi  an  hour.  He  prayed 
aloud  for  his  persecutors.  They  continued  to  demand  of 
him  pledges  of  money.  He  finally  said,  “ If  you  want  my 
little  property,  take  it ; if  you  want  my  life,  that,  too,  is  in 
your  power.”  Then  they  let  him  down.  They  did  take 
his  property  to  the  amount  of  half  his  little  all.  “I  saw 
Brother  Ling  a month  afterward,  happy  in  the  love  of 
Jesus  and  no  words  of  bitterness  against  his  persecutors,” 
writes  the  missionary. 

9.  Another  account  lies  before  us,  of  a Chinese  woman 
who  describes  her  husband's  state  of  mind,  while  under 
conviction  for  sin,  thus  : 

“ In  the  eighth  year  of  the  Emperor  Lung  Tai  (19  years 
ago)  first  month,  twelfth  night,  I saw  my  husband  in  a very 


cE.yi/Ly£XEss  of  the  work. 


43 


wuiiderful  condition.  He  would  cry,  then  kneel  down,  get 
up  again  then  kneel  down  again,  and  so  for  a long  time. 
Then  suddenly  he  seemed  very  happy.  I did  not  seem  to 
understand  the  business  at  all.  Afterwards  I saw  he  was 
very  much  changed  from  what  he  was  before.  Seeing  this 
I was  very  glad,  but  I could  not  understand  why  or  how 
he  had  been  changed.”  She  adds  a word  about  herself  : 
I “ When  I saw  him  reading  a book  of  hymns  I read  it  with 
, him  ; also  the  colloquial  New  Testament.  Then  I quickly 
understood  the  whole  by  heart,  and  my  heart  was  very 
glad  and  greatly  rejoiced  to  receive  the  Doctrine  Preacher, 

1 and  trusted  him  to  teach  me  how  to  be  saved,  how  to 
believe  and  trust  and  how  to  hope  for  heaven’s  happiness. 
The  Holy  Spirit  made  it  plain  to  me.” 

Genuineness  of  the  Work. — The  Chinese  converts  are 
mostly  poor,  but  the  genuineness  of  the  work  is  shown  by 
I their  contributions  to  it.  At  the  Shanghai  conference.  Dr. 
Yates  said  in  1876  the  contributions  averaged  $3.50  per 
head,  though  probably  one-half  gave  nothing.  Dr.  Talmage 
said  that  at  Amoy  they  had  two  churches  self-supporting. 
Mr.  Cartridge  said  that  at  Swatow  two  chapels  had  been 
built  by  the  native  members,  and  no  native  teacher  or 
preacher  was  allowed  to  receive  more  than  $4.00  per  month 
from  foreign  sources.  At  Canton  120  members  raised  $90 
the  year  previous.  At  Amoy  672  church  members  raised 
that  year  $880  and  in  1875,  $1,100  for  special  purposes. 
Native  Chinese  Christians  contributed  in  1876,  $10,000  for 
Christian  objects,  and  in  1886  $12,874. 

In  the  Foo  Chow  conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church  in  1870 
two  districts  were  reported  as  fully  supporting  their  presid- 
ing elders,  and  two  were  put  on  the  five  years’  list  by 
which  they  get  one-half  from  abroad  to  be  diminish  one- 
fifth  each  year,  and  to  cease  at  the  end  of  five  years.  Two 
circuits  were  reported  self-supporting  ; two  were  placed 
on  the  one  year’s  list  ; two  on  the  two  years’  list ; two  on 
the  four  years’  list  and  fourteen  on  the  five  years’  list. 


44 


CHIXA. 


Dr.  Legge,  after  forty  years  of  missionary  service  in 
China,  acknowledges  the  failings  and  peculiar  weaknesses 
of  many  Chinese  Christians,  but  at  the  London  conference 
said  : 

“ I have  been  by  the  bedside  of  men  and  women  who 
have  died  in  Christian  peace  and  hope.  I have  heard  men 
who  had  at  one  time  been  great  criminals  and  afterward 
lived  good  lives,  comforting  with  their  latest  breath,  and 
stimulating  their  friends  who  stood  weeping  around.  I 
have  known  not  a few  who  took  submissively  their  spoiling 
of  their  goods  because  of  their  faith.  I knew  well  one 
who  sealed  his  Christian  profession  with  his  blood,  and 
died  a faithful  martyr.  Yes,  the  converts  are  real.” 

Rev.  George  Smith,  missionary  of  the  English  Presb)-- 
terian  mission,  thinks  that ; 

“ Some  of  these  women,  in  regard  to  faith  and  zeal  and 
patience  and  self-denial,  might  take  their  places  beside  of 
the  most  honored  sisters  at  home.  Many  of  them,  by 
enduring  persecution  and  risking  their  lives  unto  death, 
Lave  won  triumphs  for  the  gospel  in  villages  and  towns 
where  it  would  have  been  unsafe  for  man  to  enter  at  first.” 

Rev.  C.  F.  Turner  also  at  the  London  Conference,  said  : 

“ I have  worked  with  Chinese  Christians  who  have  borne 
on  their  bodies  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  men  with 
great  burnt  scars  on  their  bodies,  where  they  had  endured 
the  tortures  of  fire,  in  the  service  of  the  gospel.  I have 
trodden  in  the  footsteps  of  a Chinese  martyr  who  laid 
down  his  life  for  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  I have  looked  upon 
the  spot  where  they  cast  his  corpse  into  the  river. 

Advantages  and  Helps. — Rev.  Dr.  Williamson  pointed 
out  some  while  ago,  in  Eva?igeliccl  Christendom,  that  there 
is  a providential  preparation  in  China  for  the  reception 
and  spread  of  the  Gospel. 

I.  There  is  an  educational  preparation.  They  say: 
“ The  mind  is  the  man.”  The  competitive  examinations 
have  quickened  the  intellect  of  China.  This  gave  rise  to 


ADVAXTAGES  AXD  HELPS. 


45 


schools.  Hence  the  large  percentage  of  readers.  Then 
there  is  one  written  language  for  the  whole  empire.  There 
is  a social  preparation.  Through  the  observance  of  filial 
obligation  has  trained  the  nation  to  subordination  to  law 
and  order.  There  is  .no  communism  nor  nihilism  here. 
Divine  authority  can  be  easily  taught. 

3.  There  is  a moral  preparation.  The  heart  is  recog- 
nized as  the  seat  of  morals.  Benevolence  is  urged  in  every 
form  and  righteousness  too.  The  doctrine  of  mediation 
is  recognized. 

4.  They  have  some  knowledge  of  a true  and  living  God, 
a power  on  whom  country,  family  and  individual  prosper- 
ity depends. 

5.  They  possess  an  implied  knowledge  of  immortality. 
Their  emperors  never  die,  they  ascend. 

Mr.  Hudson  Taylor  has  pointed  out  the  significant  fact 
that  the  physical  conformation  of  China  is  favorable  tc 
this.  To  the  west  of  the  12th  degree  of  longitude  the 
country  is  mountainous  and  therefore  less  densely  popu- 
lated than  the  more  easily  accessible  regions  on  the  east 
of  the  line.  The  geographicai  center  of  the  country  is 
not  the  center  of  population.  Divide  the  eighteen  prov- 
inces equally  at  no  degrees  east  longitude,  and  only  one- 
fifth  of  the  population  will  be  found  west  of  that  parallel. 
Vie  have  access  to  the  whole  seaboard,  and  four-fifths,  or 
320  millions  of  the  population  lie  in  that  half  of  the  couq^- 
try.  Divide  the  country  laterally  by  the  30th  degree  of 
latitude  and  the  northern  half  is  the  more  healthy,  and 
contains  nearly  double  the  population  of  the  southern  half 
of  the  territory.  Thus  the  health  conditions  are  favorable 
for  reaching  the  greatest  number,  as  one-half  the  people 
are  in  one-quarter  of  the  territory,  and  that  the  most  salu- 
brious part. 


46 


CHINA. 


It  has  been,  over  and  over,  pointed  out  that  the  written 
language  affords  great  facility  for  communication  with  all 
the  people  of  the  empire.  It  is  not  so  difficult  of  acquisi- 
tion as  was  formerly  supposed.  Mr.  Wesley  is  reported  to 
have  said  that  “ the  devil  invented  the  Chinese  language 
to  keep  the  gospel  out  of  China,”  but  nothing  facilitates 
its  spread  more  than  this.  It  has  been  generally  supposed 
that  the  Chinese  language  has  80.000  separate  characters 
of  which  the  dictionary  of  Kawghi  explains  about  40,000, 
but  the  number  met  with  in  books  is  only  about  5,000. 
The  spoken  languages  vary  with  every  province,  and 
except  where  missionaries  have  reduced  them  to  writing, 
are  as  a rule  unwritten,  while  the  written  language  is  uni- 
versal throughout  the  empire,  but  is  unspoken.  Though 
a Canton  and  a Too  Chow  man  cannot  understand  each 
other’s  speech,  they  will  each  know  what  the  other  writes, 
as  a Frenchman,  a German,  and  an  Englishman  would 
know  the  written  Arabic  numerals  though  not  each  other’s 
words  for  them. 

The  written  language  is  greatly  venerated.  The  cloth- 
ing, chopsticks,  fans,  vases,  cabinets,  and  almost  everything 
belonging  to  the  Chinese  are  decorated  with  the  written 
character.  It  is  intelligible  not  only  to  scholars,  but  to 
shop-keepers  and  dealers  throughout  the  eighteen  provinces 
as  well  as  to  all  Chinamen  in  Manchuria,  Mongolia,  Thibet, 
Korea,  Japan,  Cambodia,  and  in  the  islands  of  the  sea. 

The  water  communications  afford  a highway  to  every 
province  of  China.  Rev.  Mr.  Knowlton  points  out  the 
auxiliary  facilities  of  the  clanship  of  families  and  the  cus- 
tom of  living  together  in  villages  and  cities  ; the  social 
habits  contributing  to  the  communication  by  one  to  others 
what  is  heard;  the  settled  habits  of  the  people;  the  similar- 
ity of  characteristics,  so  that  objections  met  and  hindrances 


ADVAXTAGES  AXD  HELPS. 


47 


dealt  with  in  one  part  ot  the  country,  by  any  set  of  argu- 
ments may  be  so  dealt  with  in  other  parts,  the  experience 
in  one  place  being  thus  useful  in  all.  Protection  is  afforded* 
which  is  so  effectual  that  missionaries  have  repeatedly 
traversed  every  province  of  China  unmolested  and  without 
being  asked  for  their  passports.  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
mission  is  far  in  the  interior  at  KiuKiang  on  the  Yang-tse 
River,  and  just  founded  a mission  500  miles  west  of  that 
in  the  Si  Chuen  Province,  and  the  missions  at  Peking  are 
connected  by  these  water-ways  with  the  original  missions 
in  Foo  Chow,  now  an  annual  conference  with  native 
presiding  elders. 

China’s  Millions  for  December,  1881,  thus  answers  the 
question,  is  China  really  open  ? Itinerant  journeys  have 
been  taken,  principally  by  single  men,  in  all  the  unoccu- 
pied provinces  ; and  gradually  a few  stations  have  been 
opened  in  most  of  them,  to  which  after  a time  missionaries' 
wives,  and  even  single  ladies,  have  been  taken.  But  is 
China  really  to  be  considered  open,  as  a whole  ? 

In  answering  this  question  much  depends  on  what  we 
mean  by  open.  There  is  one  city  in  Hu-nan  into  which 
Protestant  Missionaries  have  hitherto  been  denied  admis- 
sion— the  capital,  Ch’ang-sha.  There  is  still  considerable 
difficulty  in  itinerating  in  some  parts  of  the  same  province  ; 
and  in  some  parts  of  Kwang-si.  Even  in  Kwang-tung 
journeying  difficulties  are  far  from  unknown.  But  every- 
where, and  steadily,  are  the  influences  operating  which  are 
opening  up  the  country.  Curiosity  is  being  appeased  ; 
hostility  removed.  They  stay  of  Missionary  ladies  in  the 
heart  of  Hu-nan  for  a fortnight  in  one  place  ; the  journey 
overland  to  the  notorious  city  Yuen-chau  Fu,  and  the  night 
spent  on  shore  at  the  inn  ; the  not  less  rowdy  city,  Chen- 
yuen  Fu  (formerly  a part  of  Hu-nan  province,  now  included 


48 


CHIXA. 


in  Kweicnau),  visited  by  ladies,  who  slept  there  also,  and 
departed  without  any  insult  or  danger, — all  point  to  the 
conclusion  that  China  is  opening,  and  that,  far  more  rapidly 
than  Christian  Missions  are  prepared  to  follow  up. 

Amongst  the  specially  favorable  things,  there  is  the 
fact  that  the  people’s  confidence  in  their  religious  systems 
was  disturbed  by  the  Taiping  rebellion.  “The  idol- 
destroying  rebels  ever  worsted  the  idol-worshipping 
imperialists,  ever  subdued  the  idol-trusting  masses,”  and 
the  rebels  who  broke  down  temples,  drove  out  priests 
and  made  widows  and  orphans  were  only  subdued  by 
the  aid  of  “Foreign  Devils.”  This  was  a terrible  stroke 
to  the  prestige  of  the  idolatrous  systems  of  China.  The 
same  British  guns  which  had  broken  the  sea-rampart  of 
China  had  to  preserve  the  “ Son  of  Heaven  ” at  Peking, 
from  insurgents  who  for  fourteen  years  had  despised 
China’s  religions.  In  the  province  of  Canton  alone  this 
rebellion  was  quelled  at  the  cost  of  half  a million  of 
lives,  80,000  of  which  perished  by  the  sword  of  the 
executioner.  All  this  has  made  a deep  impression  upon 
the  national  mind. 

We  have  read  of  the  favorable  disposition  of  the 
people  of  North  China  superinduced  through  famine. 
The  Chinese  have  a natural  distrust  for  foreigners,  and 
this  has  been  greatly  increased  by  the  course  of  Great 
Britain  in  the  matter  of  the  opium  traffic.  The  disinter- 
ested benevolence  of  foreigners  in  the  late  famine  which 
swept  off  five  millions  of  people  had  a good  effect.  At 
first  they  met  the  movement  with  distrust.  Rev.  H. 
Smith,  writing  of  Shantung,  one  of  the  fan'.ine-stricken 
provinces,  says  of  the  people  : 

At  first  they  were  too  much  famished  and  too  bewil- 
dered to  do  more  than  open  their  mouths.  They  ate  and 
were  silent.  But  by  degrees  they  began  to  talk,  and  the 


ADPAA'TAGES  AND  HELPi>. 


49 


theories  advanced  were  unique.  Some  said  that  it  was 
the  deeply  laid  plan  of  these  foreigners  to  purchase  land, 
when  it  was  to  be  had  for  next  to  nothing,  and  thus, 

: gradually  introducing  the  thin  edge  of  a wedge,  to  usurp 
the  land  after  the  manner  of  the  Egyptian  Joseph,  others 
i supposed  that  the  whole  population — men,  women  and 
i children — were  to  be  removed  to  Tien-tsin,  and  perhaps 
to  foreign  parts,  where  they  were  to  be  employed  accord- 
ing to  their  capacities,  as  teachers,  artisans  and  servants, 

• perpetual  bondservants  of  their  farsighted  benefactors. 
But  as  month  after  month  elapsed,  and  no  land  was  sold, 
and  no  one  was  deported,  this  theory  was  abandoned, 
i and  many  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  relief  was 
[ really  some  form  of  the  practice  of  virtue,  of  which  in 
China  we  hear  so  much  and  see  so  little. 

Shantung  province  has  a population  of  twenty-nine 
millions.  Eight  Protestant  missions  were  at  work  and 
much  relief  was  afforded.  The  London  missionary  society 
has  a station  in  this  province,  at  Chen-hwa,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellow  river,  230  miles  from  Peking.  In 
1877,  one  hundred  and  eleven  persons  were  baptized 
there,  including  literary  men,  cloth-weavers  and  farm- 
laborers.  The  work  went  on  so  rapidly  that  in  July,  1878, 
1.600  were  under  instruction  and  420  were  prepared  for 
baptism. 

It  was  in  this  province,  too,  that  since  the  famine,  a 
Buddhist  temple  was  given  to  the  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board  for  Christian  uses.  This  did  not  occur 
till  the  pressure  of  famine  was  over,  and  the  people  were 
in  the  midst  of  a plentiful  harvest.  The  deed  of  gift 
was  drawn  up  at  a feast,  at  which  the  temple-keeper,  the 
eighteen  managers  of  the  temple,  and  the  missionary 
were  present.  “Here,”  says  the  missionary,  “was  an 
absolutely  heathen  gathering,  in  a heathen  town,  voting 
away  their  temple  and  its  lands  to  a foreign  religion,  of 
which  most  of  them  had  never  heard  six  months  ago. 


50 


CHIXA. 


and  none  of  them  until  within  a few  years.  They  did  it 
of  their  own  motion,  and  without  solicitation  on  our 
part.”  The  deed  runs  thus  : 

The  authors  of  this  document,  to  wit,  the  whole  body 
of  managers  (of  the  temple),  together  with  the  whole 
body  of  villagers,  deliberating  in  a public  capacity,  volun- 
tarily agree  to  make  over  the  temple  buildings  to  the 
church  of  Christ,  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  up  a meeting- 
house, in  order  to  the  public  preaching  of  the  sacred 
doctrine,  and  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a public 
school,  that  the  youth  of  the  village  may  become  virtuous, 
a benefit  to  future  generations.  The  whole  is  to  belong 
to  the  church  and  subject  to  its  control,  for  a possession 
forever,  and  the  land  belonging  to  the  temple  is  made  over 
to  the  chapel-keeper,  Chu-sian-k’o,  and  his  descendants, 
to  be  cultivated  as  his  own,  and  the  church  is  not  at 
liberty  to  sell  the  same. 

Following  on  this  deed  of  gift  came  the  destruction  of 
idols,  sixty  in  number.  The  platforms  of  .the  idols  are 
put  to  better  use  in  seating  the  worshipers  of  God.  The 
largest  bell  of  the  temple  is  hung  up  to  do  duty  in  calling 
to  worship.  The  missionaries  of  the  American  board 
report  a wide-spread  interest  in  the  “doctrine,”  and  at  the 
close  of  1877  baptized  sixty-three  persons,  representing 
thirty-three  different  villages,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Schih-chia-tang,  where  a Buddhist  temple  has  been  trans- 
formed into  a Christian  church. 

Prior  to  the  famine  the  Shan-Si  province  had  no  Prot- 
estant mission.  Now  the  Baptist  and  China  Inland  are 
both  being  established  there.  Rev.  T.  Richard  of  the 
Baptist  mission,  labored  in  the  famine  relief  and  was  sur- 
prised subsequently  to  find  a deputation  coming  from  a 
distant  village  to  the  capital  of  Shan-Si,  to  ask  his  full 
name,  that  it  might  be  put  up  for  worship  in  the  village 
temple,  as  they  regarded  him  as  one  of  the  saviors  of 
Shan-Si. 


advaxtages  axd  helps. 


51 


Another  incident  is  recorded.  Rev.  Albert  Whiting  of 
the  American  Presbyterian  mission,  fell  a victim  to  famine 
fever,  in  this  very  province  of  Shan-Si.  His  body  was 
enclosed  in  a strong  coffin  until  his  wife  and  friends  should 
be  communicated  with,  and  their  desires  ascertained  as  to 
its  disposal.  Their  message  was  that  he  should  be  buried 
where  he  fell.  Mr.  Richard  accordingly  sought  to  pur- 
chase a piece  of  ground  for  the  grave.  Before  the  pur- 
chase was  completed,  he  communicated  with  the  governor 
of  the  province,  as  foreigners  have  no  legal  right  to  hold 
land  in  the  interior.  The  first  answer  was  an  order  for 
400  taels  (about  ^130)  on  the  public  treasury.  The 
order  was  accompanied  with  an  intimation  that  as  Mr, 
Whiting  had  died  in  the  service  of  the  suffering  Chinese, 
the  least  that  the  province  could  do  to  show  its  gratitude 
was  to  bear  the  expense  of  sending  his  body  home  to 
America.  The  governor,  of  course,  thought  that  what  is 
so  dear  to  a Chinaman — namely,  to  be  buried  beside  his 
ancestors — must  be  equally  dear  to  a foreigner.  On  Mr, 
Richard  explaining  the  Christian  feeling  in  this  matter, 
and  the  express  desire  of  Mr.  Whiting’s  friends  that  he 
should  be  buried  at  Tai-yuen-fu,  the  governor  insisted 
that  in  that  case  all  expenses  connected  with  the  purchase 
of  the  land  should  be  borne  by  the  treasury. 

At  the  funeral,  twelve  Chinese  carried  the  cofhn  to  the 
grave.  A short  service  was  held  there,  and  at  its  close 
one  of  the  Chinese  came  forward,  saying  to  the  foreign 
missionaries  present  : “ Since  you  have  shown  your 

respect  to  Mr.  W’hiting,  who  has  lost  his  life  in  seeking  our 
good,  let  us  pay  our  respect.”  Mr.  James,  of  the  China 
Inland  mission,  adds  : “ Before  we  had  time  to  stop  him, 

he  had  suited  the  action  to  the  word,  and  was  down  on 
his  knees  before  the  grave  ; the  others  would  have  done 


52 


CHINA. 


the  same  had  we  not  restrained  them,  ana  more  fully 
explained  our  meaning.” 

A native  Chinese  paper  of  Shanghai,  that  has  been  an 
opponent  of  Christianity,  closes  an  article  in  which  it 
speaks  of  the  missionaries’  work  during  the  famine  thus  : 

“ Let  us  then  cherish  a grateful  admiration  for  the 
charity  and  wide  benevolence  of  the  missionary  whose 
sacrifice  of  self,  and  love  toward  mankind  can  be  carried 
out  with  earnestness  like  this.  Let  us  applaud  too,  the 
mysterious  efficacy  and  activity  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  of 
which  we  have  these  proofs.  We  record  the  same  in 
writing  for  the  information  of  all  noble  minded  within  the 
seas.” 

“A  dozen  wars,”  says  an  eminent  authority,  “would 
not  have  so  much  to  open  China  as  the  ministrations  to 
their  relief  have  done.” 

Encouragements  to  Renewed  Efforts. — The  encourage- 
ments are  not  small.  A native  preacher  at  Ningpo  writes: 

As  to  the  fact  that  the  doctrine  is  beginning  to  strike 
root  here,  there  are  several  signs,  (i.)  The  hearts  of  the 
people  are  turned.  Formerly  they  looked  on  the  “doctrine” 
as  bad,  and  the  preachers  as  wicked  men,  who  either 
wanted  to  entrap  men,  or  spoil  them  of  their  goods,  or 
swallow  up  their  houses  and  kingdom,  whence  arose  many 
bad  and  false  reports  ; now  most  men  praise  the  doctrine 
and  its  preachers.  (2.)  P’ormerly  the  converts  were  all  of 
the  lowest  class  ; now  there  are  also  some  from  among  the 
literati  and  gentry.  (3.)  There  is  much  less  persecution. 
Formerly  those  who  entered  the  religion  were  looked  upon 
as  scarcely  human  ; now,  although,  alas  ! there  is  still 
hatred,  yet  Christians  are  no  longer  looked  upon  as  brutes. 
(4.)  False  religions  are  decaying.  Formerly  the  Buddhist 
religion  was  very  powerful  ; now  the  magistrates  hate,  and 
are  trying  to  suppress  it;  the  convents  and  monasteries  are 
being  turned  into  free  schools,  and  other  public  offices. 
The  Taoist  and  Buddhist  religion  are  alike;  the  Buddhist 
having  fallen,  the  Taoist  will  also  fall,  whence  we  may 
know  that  Christianity  is  beginning  to  flourish. 


J//SS/OA^AJ^V  RESULTS  AXD  PROSPECTS.  53 


Missionary  Results  and  Prospects. — At  the  Shanghai 
Conference,  May,  1877,  the  number  of  communicants  in 
the  several  missions  of  China  were  reported  at  13,033,  and 
the  Christian  community  estimated  at  40,000.  The 
Shanghai  Conference  of  1890,  returns  31,000  communicants  . 
and  100,000  native  Christians.  This  represents  the  gain  for 
about  forty-five  years,  as  work  was  only  fairly  begun  in  1842^ 
when  China  first  became  open  for  resident  missionaries  at 
the  treaty  ports.  But  it  does  not  indicate  the  present  ratio 
of  increase.  The  conversions  in  1878  were  more  than 
those  of  the  whole  five  years  previous. 

r)r.  Legge,  at  the  London  conference,  said  : “The  con- 
verts have  multiplied  during  thirty-five  years  at  least  two 
thousand  fold,  the  rate  of  increase  being  greater  year  after 
year.  Suppose  it  should  continue  the  same  for  other 
thirty-five  years,  then  in  A.  D.  1913,  there  will  be  in  China 
twenty-six  millions  of  communicants,  and  a professedly 
Christian  community  of  one  hundred  millions.” 

Obstacles  and  Difficulties. — i.  To  the  heathen  becoming 
Christians.  No  one  can  state  the  case  of  the  Chinese  better 
than  the  Chinese,  and  so  we  let  a native  Chinese  Christian 
minister  state  the  point  of  the  difficulties  of  the  native 
Chinaman  in  learning  about  Christianity. 

Rev.  Y.  K.  Yen,  speaking  at  the  Shanghai  Conference, 
said  : 

“We  must  understand  the  peculiar  character  of  the 
Chinese,  (i)  They  have  hazy  ideas  about  gods.  A Chinese 
who  went  to  the  United  States  was  written  to  by  his  father 
that  his  sixth  mother  was  well.  What  can  a man  who  has 
six  mothers  know  of  a mother’s  love?  (2)  The  Chinese 
have  hazy  ideas  about  sin,  which  they  confound  with 
crime,  treading  on  one’s  toes,  being  late  to  dinner — the 
same  character  for  all.  (3)  They  have  hazy  ideas  about  a 


54 


china. 


future  life.  At  a Chinese  death-bed  there  is  never  a word 
about  future  happiness,  but  only  about  mourning  and 
money.  If  they  did  not  think  the  gods  could  affect  men’s 
bodies  the  temples  would  be  deserted  and  ancestral  worship 
would  decline.  They  are  not  to  blame.  It  is  their  misfor- 
tune and  not  their  fault.  The  Chinese  cannot  see  Christian- 
ity as  we  see  it.” 

2.  To  tiaiive  Christians.  This  same  Christian  native, 
already  quoted  (Rev.  Y.  K.  Yen),  said  again  at  the  great 
missionary  conference  last  year,  some  very  sensible  things 
about  the  difficulties  to  the  mission  work  growing  out  of 
the  conservatism  of  the  Chinese.  He  said  : 

“ The  Chinese  Christians  are  not  in  the  same  favorable 
circumstances  as  Christians  in  other  lands.  The  former 
have  fifty  generations  of  heathenism  behind  them.  They 
have  much  to  contend  with.  We  should  not  expect  the 
same  enterprise,  activity  and  piety  as  from  foreigners. 
Missionaries  often  speak  disparagingly  of  Chinese 
Christians.  This,  considering  the  circumstances,  is 
unreasonable  and  unjust.  Western  civilization  is  marked 
by  diversity.  Eastern  civilization  by  uniformity.  Chinese 
are  not  active  physically,  morally  and  spiritually.  If  I 
were  active  physically  I should  not  have  this  queue  to-day. 
If  any  other  Chinese  would  cut  off  his  hair  and  shorten  his 
skirts  I would  do  so  too.  They  have  a load  upon  them. 
All  Chinese  worship  is  for  selfishness.  They  have  no 
knowledge  of  God  ; no  recognition  of  being  His  sons. 

“ A single  province  of  hers  converted  would  be  equal  to 
the  conversion  of  whole  nations  elsewhere.  Convert  any 
one  of  her  eighteen  provinces  and  you  would  have  more 
than  all  Brazil  and  Mexico.  Any  one  of  a dozen  of  her 
provinces  would  be  more  than  the  conversion  of  all  Italy. 
As  goes  China,  so  goes  Asia.  She  is  to-day  the  citadel  of 
paganism.  Secure  her  to  Christ,  and  you  secure  all  her 
dependencies,  as  Thibet,  Turkistan,  Mongolia,  Manchuria 
and  Korea.  Break  down  her  idols  and  you  dethrone  the 
greater  part  of  heathenism  at  a stroke  ! ” 


OBSTACLES  AND  DIFFICULTIES. 


35 


"I'ne  missionaries  appeal  to  the  churches  because  China 
is  the  largest  and  most  important  heathen  country  ; 
because,  though  old,  the  nation  is  full  of  vigor  and  prom- 
ise ; because  they  are  the  great  colonizers  of  the  East  ; 
because  morally  and  religiously  there  is  no  hope  for  China 
itself ; because,  since  the  Chefoo  Convention  of  1876,  the 
Empire  is  more  open  than  ever  ; because  multitudes  are 
reading  Christian  bocks,  and  enquiring  after  Christian 
truth  ; because  they  want  China  “emancipated  from  the 
thraldom  of  sin  in  this  generation  and  because  this  is 
possible  to  the  faith  and  fidelity  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Bishop  Thompson  beautifully  said  that  China  waits  for 
one  foretold  by  one  of  her  most  eminent  sons:  “In  process 
of  time  a Holy  One  will  be  born  who  will  redeem  the 
world.  The  nations  will  wait  for  him  as  fading  flowers 
desire  the  summer  rain.  He  will  be  born  of  a virgin.  His 
name  will  be  Prince  of  Peace.  China  will  be  visited  by 
his  glory.” 

Let  the  watchword  be — 

CHRIST  EOR  CHINA 

AND 


CHINA  FOR  CHRIST  ! 


56 


C//LXA. 


PROTESTANT  MISSION 

Presented  at  the  General 


NAME  OF  SOCIETY. 

2 

'3 

^ E 

2 0 

0 

o 

M 

2 

a 

Foi 

SSIC 

'A 

a 

> 

^EIG 

)NAI 

2 

3 

2 

X 

N 

UES. 

< 

H 

O 

E-* 

1 

London  Missionary  Society 

1807 

30 

21 

14 

65 

2 

American  Hoard 

i8;io 

36 

3-2 

15 

83 

3 

American  Haptists  Missionary  L'nion  

1834 

14 

13 

7 

34 

4 

American  Protestant  E])iscopal 

18:» 

11 

4 

3 

18 

5 

American  Presbyterian, 

1835 

18 

41! 

21 

122 

<> 

American  Reformed  Dutch 

1842 

7 

7 

2 

It) 

7 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 

1843 

12 

6 

18 

s 

Church  Missionary  Society 

1844 

27 

21 

8 

56 

9 

English  Baptist 

1845 

20 

16 

36 

10 

Methodist  Ei)iscopal  

1847 

37 

35 

27 

99 

11 

Seventh  Day  Baptist  

1847 

2 

2 

2 

0 

12 

Sf)uthorn  Baptist  Convention  

1847 

14 

13 

8 

13 

Basel  Mission 

1847 

19 

14 

33 

14 

English  Presbj^terian 

1S47 

26 

15 

10 

51 

15 

Rheinish  Mission 

1847 

5 

2 

7 

IS 

Methodist  Episcopal,  South 

1848 

9 

9 

14 

32 

17 

Berlin  Foundling  House  

1850 

1 

1 

5 

7 

IS 

Wesle.van  Jlissionai-y  Society 

1852 

17 

11 

3 

31 

19 

Woman's  Union  Jlission 

1859 

7 

7 

20 

Methodist  New  Connection 

1800 

7 

4 

1 

12 

21 

5 

22 

United  Presbyterian  of  Scotland 

1865 

7 

6 

3 

16 

23 

China  Inland  Mission  

1805 

161 

70 

135 

366 

24 

American  Presbyterian,  South 

1867 

12 

9 

7 

28 

2.') 

United  Methodist  Free  Church 

1868 

3 

3 

6 

20 

National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland 

1869 

3 

2 

5 

27 

Irish  Presbyterian 

1869 

4 

4 

i 

9 

2S 

Canadian  Presbyterian 

1871 

7 

6 

2 

15 

29 

Society  for  Propagation  of  Gospel 

1874 

6 

4 

3 

13 

30 

American  Bible  Society 

1876 

6 

3 

9 

31 

Established  Church  of  Scotland 

1879 

1 

1 

2 

32 

Berlin  Mission 

1882 

6 

4 

i 

11 

33 

Allem.  Ev.  Protestant  Mission  Gesel  

1884 

1 

1 

34 

Bible  Christians  

1885 

4 

2 

l> 

35 

Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society 

1886 

9 

5 

14 

3t) 

Society  for  Diffusion  of  Christian  and  General 

Knowledge 

1886 

2 

1 

2 

37 

Society  of  Friends 

1886 

1 

1 

i 

3 

38 

American  Scandinavian  Congregational 

1887 

2 

1 

3 

39 

1888 

40 

United  Brethren  in  Christ 

1889 

1 

1 

2 

4 

tl 

1 

3 

4 

Total 

589 

391 

316 

1,296 

CH/.\A 


57 


STATISTICS  FOR  CHINA. 


Conference,  at  Shanghai,  in  Man,  ISOO. 


Native 

Helpers. 

Churches. 

Medical 

Work. 

j Pupils  in  Schools.  j 

j Communicants. 

y.  50 

^ < s 

s 

? 5 

z 

6 

2 

5 

TTnohdained. 

1 

< 

Es* 

N 

2 

< 

5 

Self-Sup- 

POUTING. 

Hospitals.  I 

Cf. 

e 

c 

CC 

2 

X 

Patients  in 
1888. 

*b 

< 

(Quarter. 

11 

T.i 

62 

30 

3 

1 

54,625 

2,124 

4,078 

1 85.673  29 

4 

TO 

21 

20 

1 

2 

6 

4 

31,925 

1,074 

1,-549 

1,619  63 

7 

4!) 

26 

14 

2 

1 

2 

5,4)18 

325 

1,479 

714  91 

10 

G 

4 

i 

30,000 

1,123 

450 

547  53 

20 

100 

44 

8 

1 

i 

6 

40,000 

2,482 

4,041 

2,372  00 

9 

IG. 

4 

8 

8 

1 

10,928 

217 

856 

2,.535  00 

128 

IT 

151 

19 

3 

3 

13,668 

2,000 

2,695 

3,100  00 

1 

18 

2 

1,000 

1,1.54 

360  00 

76 

101 

66 

148 

9 

9 

IT 

8 

4 

49,212 

2,708 

3,888 

7,341  00 

*? 

4 

1 

1 

3,010 

28 

30 

S 

15 

6 

13 

1 

1 

3)18 

808 

750  00 

G 

38 

848 

2,029 

1,237  58 

8 

110 

17 

44) 

25 

7 

4 

7 

20,610 

628 

3,471 

6,934  72 

0 

6 

1 

1 

1 

1 

4,458 

32 

1.56 

.52  00 

4 

15 

1 

o 

9 

2 

i 

10,427 

925 

312 

235  58 

1 

80 

•> 

31 

IT 

15 

i 

i 

2 

t,6o6 

534 

1,079 

1,300  00 

5 

1 

10,728 

167 

48 

11  00 

3G 

180 

1,232 

101  00 

14 

1 

1 

2 

2 

20,000 

67 

1.000 

1.50  00 

io 

82 

80 

5 

2 

2 

9 

18 

25,310 

182 

2,937 

676  00 

4 

5 

2 

1 

1 

4,000 

300 

100 

72  30 

14 

2 

2,500 

70 

443 

54 

i 

18 

1 

2,000 

20 

130 

•> 

50 

1,600 

2,719 

943  00 

(?)  100 

31 

3 

80 

30 

3 

22 

40 

462 

l.M  00 

17 

40 

11 

8 00 

30 

2U 

1,266 

180 

522 

94 

22 

2T 

61 

44 

348,439 

16,836 

37,287  1 

J30,884  54 

CHINA. 


I.— THE  APPEAL  OF  THE  SHANGHAI  GENERAL  MIS- 
SIONARY CONFERENCE  OF  i8go,  FOR 
ORDAINED  MISSIONARIES,  ETC. 

TO  ALL  OUR  HOME  CHURCHES. 

Greeting  ; — Realizing  as  never  before  the  magnitude  of  China 
and  the  utter  inadequacy  of  our  present  numbers  for  the  speedy 
carrying  into  execution  of  our  Lord's  command,  “ Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,”  therefore. 

Resolved,  that  we,  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  members  of  the 
Missionary  Conference  now  in  session  at  Shanghai,  earnestly  and 
unanimously  appeal  to  you  to  send  out  speedily  as  many  himdreds 
as  can  possibly  he  secured  of  'well-qualified  ordained  men. 

The  whole  of  China  is  now  open  to  missionary  effort  and  needs 
a large  number  of  men  of  prayer,  of  patience,  endurance  and  of 
common  sense — men  full  or  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith  in  the 
gospel  as  “ the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.” 

The  missionary  here  encounters  hoary  and  subtle  superstitions, 
a most  difficult  language,  a people  of  vigorous  intellect,  with  a 
vast  literature  and  an  elaborate  educational  system.  There  is 
need,  therefore,  of  men  of  commanding  practical  and  intellectual 
as  well  as  spiritual  endowments — men  who  shall  be  able  to  engage 
in  and  direct  the  work  of  evangelization,  to  educate,  train  and 
induct  into  their  work  a native  pastorate,  to  found  and  conduct 
educational  institutions,  and  to  provide  a general  theological, 
scientific  and  periodical  literature. 

Seeing,  as  we  do,  the  utter  destitution  and  helplessness  of  these 
millions  still  “having  no  hope  and  without  God  m the  world,”  we 
appeal  to  young  men  to  give  themselves  to  this  work.  We  believe 
that  the  great  question  with  each  of  you  should  be,  not  “ Why 
should  I go  ? ” but  “ Why  should  I not  go  ?” 

We  recommend  that  the  men  be  sent  under  the  regularly  consti- 
tuted missionary  societies  of  the  various  denominations,  and  that 
these  societies  search  out  suitable  men  before  they  are  committed 
to  the  home  work. 

With  the  highest  appreciation  of  the  claims  of  the  home 
churches,  we  still  urge  young  pastors  to  consider  whether  the  places 
of  some  of  them  might  not  be  filled  by  men  who  cannot  come  to 
the  mission  field,  while  they  might  bring  their  experience  to 
spheres  of  work  in  China  which  must  otherwise  be  left  wholly 
unoccupied. 

We  call  upon  individual  congregations  to  greatly  increase  their 
contributions  for  the  support  of  one  or  more  of  these  men. 

We  urge  Christian  men  of  wealth  to  prayerfully  consider 
the  duty  and  privilege  of  giving  themselves  personally  to  this 
work,  or  of  supporting  their  representatives. 

Finally,  we  shall  not  cease  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to 
move  you  mightily  by  His  Holy  Spirit  in  behalf  of  this  vast  and 
ripening  field. 


APPEALS. 


59 


II.— APPEAL  FOR  LAY  MISSIONARIES. 

This  Conference,  while  strongly  urging  upon  the  home  churches 
the  sustenation  and  continued  increase  of  the  staff  of  thoroughly 
trained  and  fully  qualified  ordained  missionaries  and  the  further 
development  of  native  agencies  in  every  branch  of  Christian 
work,  is  still  so  profoundly  impressed  with  the  manifold  needs  of 
this  vast  country,  that  it  would  present  a direct  appeal  to  the  laity 
of  the  home  churches  for  /ay  missio7iaries ; and  in  doing  so  wouli 
place  before  them  some  of  the  departments  of  service  in  which 
their  help  is  more  especially  needed. 

Beginning  with  the  highest  service  and  touching  the  deepest 
need  of  the  country,  they  would  point  to  the  many  millions  of  our 
fellow-men  who  have  never  heard  of  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God  : and  to  some  millions  more,  who,  though  they  have  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  some  portion  of  His  word,  still  fail  to  com- 
prehend its  meaning  for  want  of  some  one  to  guide  them  in  their 
study  of  it  ; and  they  would  urge  the  claims  of  these  unevangel- 
ized millions  on  the  youth  of  the  home  churches,  and  would 
emphasize  the  nobility  of  the  service  which  a Christian  evangelist 
may  thus  render  to  the  Lord  in  China. 

The  country  long  closed  is  open.  The  people,  if  not  decidedly 
friendly,  are  not  hostile.  The  work  of  the  Bible  colporteur  has 
prepared  the  way.  The  promise  of  ingathering  is  yearly  bright- 
ening, but  the  laborers  are  few ; and  with  the  abundance  of 
Christian  workers  in  the  home  lands,  surely  hundreds  or  even 
thousands  might  be  found  to  hasten  on  the  evangelization  of  this 
empire  by  their  personal  effort  and  consecration. 

Passing  now  to  the  intellectual  requirements  of  China,  we 
rejoice  to  record  the  progress  of  missionary  education  in  the  East 
during  recent  years  ; but  are  admonished  by  the  fact  that  purely 
secular  instruction  so  largely  tinges  the  educational  movements 
of  both  Christian  and  heathen  governments  ; and  in  fact  we  hear 
a loud  call  to  the  Christian  Church  to  supply  in  larger  numbers 
Christian  educationalists  for  China.  The  intellectual  renaissance 
of  the  empire  is  just  commencing,  there  is  an  incipient  cry  for 
western  culture,  and  the  response  which  the  Christian  Church  may 
make  to  this  cry  will,  to  no  inconsiderable  extent,  decide  the 
course  which  the  education  of  the  country  will  take  in  the  future. 

With  Christian  men  in  the  chairs  of  the  colleges  of  China,  what 
may  we  not  expect  from  so  powerful  an  auxiliary  in  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  empire  ? University  men  may  find  here  at  no  distant 
period  some  of  the  most  influential  posts  in  the  mission  field ; and  we 
would  earnestly  invite  all  such  Christian  co-workers  to  weigh  over 
with  all  seriousness  the  question  whether  they  may  not  more 
effectively  serve  their  generation  in  China  than  in  the  home  lands. 

But  besides  the  intellectual  need  of  the  country,  there  is  also 
the  chronic  and  often  dire  necessity  of  physical  distress.  The 


6o 


CHIXA. 


masses  or  inc  people  are  poor.  Physical  suffering  meets  us  at 
every  turn.  Medical  science  is  almost  unknown.  Charitable 
institutions,  though  established  both  by  the  government  and  by 
private  effort,  fail  to  compass  the  need  of  the  masses.  Flood  and 
famine  slay  their  thousands  ; and  yet  the  wealth  of  the  world  is  in 
Christian  hands,  and  might  by  judicious  distribution  both  save  the 
lives  of  thousands  yearly  and  give  completer  expression  to  the 
Life  we  preach.  On  behalf  of  these  destitute  masses,  therefore, 
we  earnestly  plead  with  the  men  of  wealth  in  the  home  churches 
that  they  will  consider  the  claims  of  these  suffering  ones,  and  not 
only  by  their  gifts  and  prayers  will  largely  aid  the  reinforcement 
of  ihe  noble  staff  of  medical  missionaries  already  in  the  field,  but 
will  give  themselves  in  larger  numbers  to  benevolent  enterprises 
abroad.  The  blind,  the  aged,  the  orphan  and  the  destitute  mutely 
plead  for  Christian  compassion,  and  the  Lord  Himself  has  said, 
“ Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  these  my  brethren,  even  these 
least,  ye  did  it  unto  me.” 

We  appeal  then,  to  our  lay  brethren  in  the  home  churches,  to 
men  of  sterling  piety,  and  of  strong  common  sense,  that  they 
would  lay  to  heart  the  needs  of  this  vast  empire — its  spiritual 
destitution,  its  stunted  education,  its  physical  distress,  and  that 
they  would  solemnly  ask  themselves  whether  for  the  greater  glory 
of  God  they  are  not  called  to  meet  this  pressing  need,  and  to 
devote  themselves,  their  service  and  their  wealth  to  this  mission- 
ary enterprise  in  China.  We  would  offer  to  them  a most  hearty 
welcome  to  our  ranks,  and  would  assure  them  that,  whether  they 
come  out  as  ordained  or  as  lay  workers,  this  welcome  will  be 
eq^ually  cordial ; and  in  conclusion  we  would  earnestly  pray  that 
this  appeal  may  be  brought  home  to  the  hearts  of  many  by  the 
power  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 

(Signed)  J.  L.  Nevius,  ( chairmen 
David  Hill,  ) 


III— AX  APPEAL  FROM  MORE  THAX  TWO  HUNDRED 
LADIES,  ME.MBERS  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 

To  the  Christian  women  of  the  British  Empire,  the  United  States, 

Germany  and  all  other  Protestant  Countries — Greeting  : 

We,  the  women  of  the  Missionary  Conference  now  assembled 
in  Shanghai,  come  to  you,  our  sisters  in  Christ,  with  an  urgent 
appeal  in  behalf  of  the  one  hundred  millions  of  women  and 
children  in  China  who  “ sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of 
death." 

The  work  of  women  in  China  has  been  prosecuted  at  the  oldest 
stations  for  about  fifty  years,  at  first  chiefly  by  the  wives  of  mis- 
sionaries, but  in  later  years  single  ladies  have  largely  augmented 
this  working  force.  There  are  now  ladies  engaged  in  educational, 
medical  and  evangelistic  work  in  China.  Much  has  been  done 


APPEALS. 


6i 


by  them,  many  lives  have  been  uplifted  from  the  degradation  of 
idolatry  and  sin,  many  sad  hearts  comforted,  many  darkened 
minds  enlightened,  and  much  solid  good  affected.  But  our  hearts 
are  burdened  to-day  with  love  and  pity  for  the  millions  of  women 
around  us,  our  sisters  tor  whom  Christ  died,  still  unreached  by  the 
sound  of  the  gospel. 

Beloved  sisters,  if  you  could  see  their  sordid  misery,  their  hope- 
less, loveless  lives,  their  ignorance  and  sinfulness,  as  we  see 
them,  mere  human  pity  would  move  you  to  do  something  for  their 
uplifting.  But  there  is  a stronger  motive  that  should  impel  you  to 
stretch  out  a helping  hand,  and  that,  we  plead — the  constraining 
love  of  Christ.  We,  who  are  in  the  midst  of  this  darkness  that 
can  be  felt,  send  our  voices  across  the  ocean  to  you,  our  sisters, 
and  beseech  you  by  the  grace  of  Christ  our  Saviour  that  you  come 
at  once  to  our  help. 

Four  kinds  of  work  are  open  to  us  : 

1.  There  is  school  work  connected  with  our  various  missions, 
which,  in  many  cases,  the  men  have  handed  over  to  the  women,  in 
order  that  they  themselves  may  engage  more  directly  in  evangel- 
istic work. 

2.  There  is  a work  to  be  done  for  the  sick  and  suffering  women 
of  China,  in  hospitals,  dispensaries  and  homes,  for  which  skillful 
physicians  are  needed.  Most  of  this  work  can  be  better  done  by 
women  than  by  men,  and  much  of  it  can  be  done  only  by  women. 

3.  There  is  work  for  us  in  the  families  of  the  Church.  There  are 
converted  mothers  and  daughters  who  need  to  be  taught  the  way 
of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,  and  to  be  trained  in  whatever  is  nec- 
essary for  their  full  development  into  lively  members  of  the  great 
b Dusehold  of  faith. 

4.  There  is  a work  of  evangelization  among  women  similar  to 
liiat  being  done  by  men  among  the  people  at  large.  It  is  not 
claimed  that  the  evangelization  of  women  cannot  be  done  at 
all  by  men — but  that  there  is  more  of  it  than  men  can  do,  there 
is  much  of  it  that  never  will  be  done  unless  women  do  it,  and 
much  that  men  cannot  do  as  well  as  women  can.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  this  kind  of  work  transcending  the  recognized  scriptural 
sphere  of  women.  Women  received  from  the  Lord  Himself  upon 
the  very  morning  of  the  resurrection  their  commission  to  tell  the 
blessed  story  of  a risen  Saviour.  What  they  did  then  we  may 
continue  to  do  now. 

But  you  will  ask,  “Who  are  needed  for  this  work  ? ” Knowing 
the  conditions  of  life  and  work  in  China,  we  would  answer  that  : 

I.  They  should  be  women  of  sound  health,  of  good  ability  and 
good  common  sense,  also  well  educated — though  not  necessarily  of 
the  highest  education — apt  to  teach,  kind  and  forbearing  in  disposi- 
tion, so  that  they  may  live  and  work  harmoniously  with  their  asso- 
ciates, and  win  the  hearts  of  the  Chinese.  Above  all,  they  should 
be  women  who  have  given  themselves  'whollv  to  the  Lord’s  work 


62  CHINA. 

and  are  willing  to  bear  hardship  and  exercise  constant  self-.denial 
for  Christ’s  sake. 

2.  It  is  desirable  that  they  should  pursue  a systematic  course  of 
Bible  study  before  coming  to  China,  and  have  some  experience  in 
Christian  work  at  home. 

Further,  we  would  suggest  that  they  should  labor  in  connection 
with  established  missions  in  order  that  the  good  results  of  their 
work  may  be  preserved,  and  that  they  may  have  when  needed, 
the  assistance  and  protection  of  their  brother  missionaries. 

Open  doors  all  around  us,  and  though  idolatry  lifts  a hoary 
her  \ and  ancestral  worship  binds  the  people  as  with  chains  of 
adamant,  yet  with  God  “ all  things  are  possible,”  and  mountains  of 
difficulty  melt  like  snowflakes  before  the  rising  of  the  Sun  of 
P'^^hteousness. 

God  is  on  the  side  of  His  own  glorious,  life-giving  Word;  we 
ask  you  to  come  in  the  power  of  consecration  and  faith  with 
sober  expectations  and  readiness  to  endure  hardness  as  good  sol- 
diers of  Jesus,  and  take  your  share  in  the  most  glorious  war  that 
was  ever  waged  on  earth — the  war  against  the  powers  of  darkness 
and  sin,  assured  that  God  will  accomplish  His  own  purposes  of 
love  and  grace  to  China,  and  will  permit  you,  if  you  listen  to  this 
call,  to  be  His  fellow-workers  in  “binding  up  the  broken-hearted, 
proclaiming  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  that  are  bound.” 

That  the  holy  and  loving  Spirit  of  God  may  incline  your  hearts 
to  respond  to  His  call,  is  our  earnest  prayer. 

Signed  on  behalf  of  the  two  hundred  and  four  ladies  assembled 
in  Conference  at  Shanghai. 

Mrs.  Mary  Lees,  London  Mission  Society. 

Mrs.  A.  Elwin,  Church  Mission  Socieiy, 

Miss  C.  M.  Ricketts,  English  Presby’terian  Mission. 

Mrs.  J.  R.  Watson,  English  Baptist  Mission. 

Miss  L.  S.  Sugden,  M.  D.  Wesleyan  Mission. 

Vliss  I.  Newcombe,  Church  of  England,  Zenana  Mission. 

■^rs,  E.  Tomalin,  China  Inland  Mission, 

-Irs.  John  Ross,  U.  P.  Church  of  Scotland. 

Mrs.  W.  E.  Soothill,  United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

Mrs.  T.  C.  Fulton,  Irish  Presbyterian  Church. 

Mrs.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  American  Board. 

Mrs.  J.  M.  Foster,  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

Mrs,  C.  W.  Mateer,  American  Presbyterian  Mission  (North). 

Miss  L,  H,  Hoag,  M.  D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  (North). 

Miss  E.  F.  Swinney,  M.  D.,  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Mission, 

Mrs.  Eliza  M.  Yates,  Southern  Baptist  Mission. 

Miss  Laura  A.  Haygood,  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  (South). 

Kliss  K.  M,  Talmage,  American  Reformed  Mission. 

Miss  R,  E.  Reifsnyder,  M.  D.,  Woman’s  Union  Mission. 

Mrs.  J.  L.  Stuart,  American  Presbyterian  Mission  (South). 


APPEALS. 


63 


IV— AN  APPEAL  TO  ALL  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES  OF 
CHRISTIAN  LANDS. 


Dear  Brethren  in  Christ  : — We,  the  General  Conference  of 
Protestant  Missionaries  in  China,  having  just  made  a special 
appeal  to  you  for  a largely  increased  force  of  ordained  mission* 
aries  to  preach  the  gospel  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
this  great  land,  to  plant  churches,  to  educate  native  ministers  and 
helpers,  to  create  a Christian  Literature,  and  in  general  to  engage 
in  and  direct  the  supreme  work  of  Christian  Evangelization  ; and 
having  also  just  made  a special  appeal  to  you  for  a largely 
increased  force  of  unordained  men,  evangelists,  teachers  and  phy* 
sicians,  to  travel  far  and  wide  distributing  books  and  preaching  to 
the  masses,  to  lend  a strong  helping  hand  in  the  great  work  of 
Christian  education,  and  to  exhibit  to  China  the  benevolent  side  of 
Christianity  in  the  work  of  healing  the  sick  : 

Therefore,  we  do  now  appeal  to  you,  the  Protestant  churches  of 
Christian  lands,  to  send  to  China  in  response  to  these  calls 
One  Thousand  Men  Within  Five  Years  from  this  Time, 

We  make  this  appeal  in  behalf  of  three  hundred  millions  of 
unevangelized  heathen ; we  make  it  with  all  the  earnestness  of 
our  whole  hearts,  as  men  overwhelmed  with  the  magnitude  and 
responsibility  of  the  work  before  us  ; we  make  it  with  unwavering 
faith  in  the  power  of  a risen  Saviour  to  call  men  into  His  vineyard, 
and  to  open  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  His  stewards  to  send  out 
and  support  them,  and  we  shall  not  cease  to  cry  mightily  to  Him 
that  He  will  do  this  thing,  and  that  our  eyes  may  see  it. 

On  behalf  of  the  Co7iference, 


f.,  ■ J Rev.  J.  L.  Nevius,  D.  D. 

Rev.  D.  Hill. 
f Rev.  j.  Hudsok  Taylor. 

I Rev.  Wm.  Ashmore,  D.  D. 
Permanent  Connnittee\  Rev.  H.  Corbett,  D.  D. 

I Rev.  C.  W.  Mateer,  D D.,  LL.  D, 
[Rev.  C.  F.  Reid. 


INDEX 


PAGE. 

Ancestor  Worship 24 

Antiquity  of  Chinese  Civilization 12 

Appeals  for  Missionaries  from  Shanghai  Conference 58 

Buddhism 23 

Chinese  Empire,  Extent  of 3 

“ “ “ Compared  with  other  Countries. . 4 

Christianity  in  China 33 

Confucianism ig 

“ Doctrines  of 20-22 

“ a Barrier  to  Christianity 22 

Converts  to  Christianity,  Character  of 35-43 

Comparative  Population,  Diagram  of 6 

Comparative  Area,  Map  showing 7 

Education  and  Literature 14 

Famine,  Results  of  to  Missions 48-52 

Feng  Shui 27-30 

History  of  China ii 

“ “ Compared  with  other  History 12 

Language 46 

Missions,  Encouragement  of  the  Work 52 

“ Difficulties  in  way  of 53 

“ Facilities  for  Work 45 

“ Genuineness  of  the  Work 43 

“ Results  and  Prospects  of 53 

“ Statistics  of 56-57 

Modern  Progress  and  Enterprise  of  the  Chinese 15 

Population  of  China 8 

“ Compared  with  other  Countries 9 

Punishments  in  China 31 

Religions  of  China  Blended 18 

“ Inefficiency  of 30 

Taiping  Rebellion,  Effects  of 48 

Taoism 23 

Treaty  with  China 34 

Water  Communication  over  China 46 

Work  to  be  Done 55 


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